Discovering Oneself
by BenXGwen Lightning Warrior
Summary: After a malfunction with the Null Void Projector, Ben and Gwen are flung into the Halo Universe. So how will they affect events?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** I think this is the first story of its kind. Please let me know what you think.

Prologue: Enter the Rabbit Hole

Ben Tennyson shook his head as the eighteen year old looked at his room. "Man, that was worse than I remember." Ben grumbled as he got up and walked to the bathroom to splash water on his face. _Back on that Gladiator Tour of the Galaxy only different._ Ben thought with a worried expression. _I can't remember why though._ The teen sighed, took a shower, and got dressed. _Maybe I'm just nervous about today._ Ben sighed, shook his head and hurried to his car for final exams.

At school, Ben smiled when he saw Gwen. "I thought you were exempt." Ben told her in confusion.

The redhead smiled. "I'm here for moral support. After you finish with exams, I'm taking Kevin to get his GED."

Ben couldn't help an uncomfortable shiver when he heard Kevin's name. "Be careful, Gwen."

The redhead sighed and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Kevin is different now."

Ben raised an eyebrow. _As an eleven year old he saw multiple counts of attempted MURDER, and she STILL gives him chance after chance._

"He's ok, Ben. You'll see." Gwen said softly.

Ben only nodded in response as Gwen walked away. _I had hoped she would dump his ass after that fiasco at The Forge of Creation._

Thoughts of Kevin, Gwen, and his nightmare aboard the Megacruiser made concentrating on his exams almost impossible for Ben, but through some stroke of luck, Ben managed to get through his exams.

As Ben walked out, old instincts Ben had developed over the years with the Omnitrix then Ultimatrix started to sound in the back of his mind.

"Something big is going to happen today. I can feel it!" Ben whispered to himself as he walked to his car.

As Ben reached for his car door, the pinging in the back of Ben's mind only grew stronger. _Protect her…_ Ben thought as he looked toward where Gwen had gone and followed, slipping from shadow to shadow as he went.

When Ben stopped and ducked behind the front right tire of a car, he heard Kevin.

"Why do you spend so much time with Tennyson?"

Gwen looked at him. "Kevin, he's my cousin! Of course, we're going to spend time together."

Kevin's face darkened and he pulled out a gun-like device Gwen instantly recognized.

"W-What are you doing with the Null Void Projector?!"

Kevin sneered. "I'm getting rid of the competition!"

Without warning, Kevin fired. The portal opened behind Ben. _Artificial gravity…_ Ben's mind registered unconsciously. A faint voice that sounded like a drill sergeant growled in Ben's mind, _"IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE GAVITY SHIFTS, GET YOUR ASS AS CLOSE TO THE DIRT AS POSSIBLE!"_ Ben dropped and squatted on all fours.

"Marines never die, Kevin;" Ben growled as he clawed into the dirt. "We just regroup in Hell!" Ben had no idea where the motto came from, but he didn't have time to think about it at present.

Kevin growled. "Why aren't you gone already?!"

With an angry fist, Kevin slammed the projector into the ground. As it sparked and spat, clearly damaged, gravity output from the device increased immensely.

"DIE!"

Gwen glared at Kevin and yelled, "Gravate elevium!"

Gwen's body suddenly shot forward and tackled Ben. As they landed on a rock, Ben realized something was wrong when unbelievable pressure built up inside his rib cage.

 _We landed in space!_ He thought. _We're gonna die!_

As Ben's vision began to fade, he noticed three blotchy forms coming toward them.

Ben only caught part of the speech from the men. "…alive!", "impossible", and "Spartan" were the only words he could make out in semi-consciousness.

When Ben woke up, he sat up and looked around in confusion. The room was white, about four meters high from floor to ceiling, and sparsely furnished with a few medical cots and accompanying medical equipment. As Ben sat up, he felt IV tubing pull at his right arm and grimaced as the medical tape used to secure the IV pulled at the hair on his wrist.

"Gwen?" Ben asked softly as he looked around.

"I'm right here, Doofus." Gwen said as she levitated about a half meter off the floor in the Lotus Position.

"What…where are we?" Ben asked, a little bit nervous. "Last thing I remember is passing out in the vacuum of space when the Null Void Projector broke."

Gwen seemed to look at him even with her eyes closed. "We're in a parallel universe, somewhere between time-space."

"…but we're in a space ship! How can that be?" Ben asked.

"FTL travel…" Gwen answered. "Earth has never reached that stage of technology though." She opened her eyes, stood, and walked over to Ben. "Near light speed, physics as we know it begins to break down. It could be plausible that velocity itself rips a hole in the universe and brings the ship into a parallel plane until speed is slowed to sub-light."

Ben groaned and held his head. "I hate Quantum Physics."

Gwen giggled at that and went to pull the IV out of his arm.

"Come on, Ben." Gwen said with a kind smile once he was unhooked from the confines of the cot. "Let's have a look around."

Ben nodded, sat up, and swung his legs over the side of the cot. "Standard PT uniform…" Ben grumbled as he looked at the sweatpants and shirt. "What's UNSC?" Ben mumbled to himself as he saw the letters on the shirt.

Gwen walked over to what she guessed was a computer terminal and began digging. "That's…different." Gwen mumbled as she worked with the holographic keyboard. "Hyper-advanced…"

Ben rolled his eyes with a smile at Gwen fawning over the ship's technology. "Where are we?" He asked calmly.

Gwen gave him a look. "Not exactly sure WHERE but the WHEN is more important."

Ben groaned. I'm gonna kill Paradox!"

Gwen shook her head. "This wasn't his doing. He's much too flashy for something like this. Besides, I don't think he can travel here."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "'When' are we then?"

"According to the ship's log, the ship is named the _Pillar of Autumn_ and the estimated date is August 27th, 2552."

Ben just stared at Gwen is shock. Sure, they'd traveled into the future before, but five and a half centuries?! Everyone they knew was long dead or never existed in this universe in the first place. All Ben could think to do was hold Gwen tight.

As Ben and Gwen were discussing the situation they were in and trying to get a handle on the moment, a man in green armor walked at a brisk pace toward the medical wing.

"Cortana, are you certain there's a foreign AI trying to access the system?"

The ship AI sounded confused as she spoke in the MJOLNIR helmet speakers which was very strange for a Smart AI such as her. "There were reports of two adrift without protection, but the cameras in the med bay are acting oddly. There's definitely a human being in there, but there's something else with them. I don't know what the unknown is." She paused for a moment. "Be on guard, John."

For only a split second, Sierra-117 questioned why Cortana used his name. Then, the soldier put the possible threat at the front of his mind. _If the Covenant have created infiltration AI, this could be catastrophic._ The man thought as he walked into the medical unit to see a woman and a young man talking. Instead of talking, Chief glared at the newcomers under his visor.

It was then Ben and Gwen noticed the giant of a man on the doorway. Ben stood at attention and saluted without prompting. "Sir!" John raised an eyebrow at this but noted that the woman seemed confused by her companion's actions.

"At ease, marine." John said in a gruff tone.

Ben relaxed only slightly as he looked at Gwen in confusion. Gwen gave him a similar look in return. Before either could ask their questions, a hologram appeared on top of a tiny table. An attractive feminine form with dark hair, piecing eyes and an aggravated look on her face with her arms crossed staring at the pair as lines of code ran around her "body".

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

Gwen shivered suddenly. "You're damaged." She stated as she read the lines of code unconsciously.

Ben looked at the avatar and chuckled. "Look, gorgeous." Ben could feel Gwen's eyes burning into him but at the moment, couldn't care less. "We almost die, and you want to give us the third degree?"

Ben walked over to the hologram. "Short answer is: we don't know how we got here or even where 'here' is exactly."

Gwen put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "We were sent here by a dimensional displacement failure, but we offer no threat unless you prove to be a threat." Gwen looked directly at the Chief as she spoke.

Cortona found the…creature's instant understanding of her Spartan to be amusing but kept that buried under multiple levels of code. A more pressing question ran through her logic processes at that moment: _How did she know I am damaged?_

"The ship looks pretty beat up." Ben mumbled to himself as he looked at the damage reports Gwen was able to access. "Plasma scarring all over the gun deck, engines don't look too bad though…why doesn't the ship have shields?" Ben shook his head. "It doesn't matter right now. With a little work and some help from a friend, she'll be back to roaring in no time." Ben said with a confident smile.

Gwen gave him a concerned look. It said, _We need to talk for a minute ALONE!_

Ben only nodded and turned back to Spartan and AI. "Pardon us for a minute."

The only evidence the soldier and his AI gave that they heard was they looked at each other. (For Cortana, "look" was a relative term. She cocked her avatar's head toward Chief and "glanced" his direction with her avatar's eyes.) Then, Cortana nodded as silent deliberations passed between them.

Once given the OK, Ben and Gwen quickly detached themselves from the pair. Once alone on the other side of the room, Gwen looked at Ben.

"I know what you're thinking, Doofus; ;" Gwen told Ben as she looked him in the eyes. "…and Upgrade would likely set these people off."

Ben looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Gwen closed her eyes and shivered. "Humanity is in the grips of a war with a coalition of alien races called 'The Covenant'."

Ben looked at her. "How do you know?"

Gwen took a moment to think and lied. "I saw it in the _Autumn_ 's records."

Ben nodded. "Then, I'll have to repair the ship incognito." Ben told her with a confident smile. "I recently learned how to apply Upgrade's changes to the machinery itself, so it keeps the changes I make after I leave."

Cortana left the holopad and opened a private comm in John's helmet as Ben and Gwen left to talk among themselves.

"I was scanning through Doctor Halsey's records, and I found something intriguing." The digital voice rang softly in his speakers. "Three hundred children for the SPARTAN-II program. All of them are accounted for except one."

"What happened to the Spartan?" Chief asked.

Cortana sighed. "He was taken by what ONI Spooks believed to be Covenant spies."

John arched an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with them?" The soldier asked as he looked subtly at Ben and Gwen.

"The Covenant refer in records I was able to get to 'The Reclaimer of the Covenant' and his 'Guardian'." She told him calmly.

"You believe this kid is THAT?" He asked calmly.

"Yes, we'll have to watch them closely." She told John calmly.

Anticipating his next question, Cortana said, "I don't know who or what the 'Guardian' is in reference to."

John's eyes hardened under his visor. "In any case, we'll be ready."

 **Please Read and Review.**


	2. One: Repairs

**Author's Note:** This is going to be a slow-paced story, so please, keep that in mind.

Chapter One: Repairs

Cortana flowed along the ship's mainframe as she ran through system checks and other forms of digital maintenance within the ship with a marginal repair rate with the physical damage from the failure of Operation: RED FLAG. Cortana's thought processes briefly scanned over the casualty list from the mission. A strange sensation rolled though the AI's code: the AI approximation of a shiver. Then, as Cortana deleted to her copy of the records and checked on the repair drones' status on the ship, the AI was alerted to movement in the medbay by her surveillance subroutine.

What are you doing? Cortana thought as she squelched her alert subroutine for the moment and only watched the young stranger make his way to the engine room.

Ben looked around the dark ship with a sigh as he walked. Systems were holding, but Ben was sure of one thing if what Gwen showed him of the damage reports was to be trusted: The _Autumn_ wouldn't stay space worthy without his intervention.

"Gwen will probably kill me when she finds out." Ben mumbled as he walked down the halls of the ship. "I have to do this or all the people on the ship could die."

With that thought driving Ben, the young man walked toward the engine room. Ben would never admit to it, but ever since his first starship flight aboard the _Resolute_ he felt more at home in space than on Terra Firma. It felt the same here, only more so as Ben navigated toward the engine room nigh on autopilot. About two hundred meters away from the room, the Omnitrix dial began to turn red. As Ben drew closer to the damaged engines, the red ring on the edge of the dial inched toward the center. When the dial was half full and split between red and green, Ben noticed.

 _A Geiger counter…_ Ben paled at the thought as a shiver ran down his spine. _I guess I should put on my hazmat suit._

Wasting no time, Ben dialed in Upgrade and transformed. Strangely, as a Galvanic Mechamorph, Ben could "sense" the damaged machinery and skated quickly along the metal floor, pressed flat on the floor to avoid detection. In the engine room, Upgrade's ductile form looked at the room through his single eye and groaned. _Fusion driven warp engines…primitive, dangerous, and improperly shielded for safe maintenance…_ Ben thought as he shook his head and merged with the reactors.

Cortana had seen enough at that point and put the entire ship on alert. "We have a saboteur in the engine room!" Cortana called over the ship's PA system.

Ben only sighed in irritation and sped up his repairs on the damaged and dangerous engine. As Ben separated from the machine, he was met by about a hundred marines and the Spartan with their weapons trained on him.

One of the marines glared at Ben's alien form. "Just what we need…another alien freak."

Upgrade's single eye bent to form an imitation of a furrowed brow. "You can't be serious!" Ben growled with irritation in his voice. "I just saved the entire ship and the lives on board!"Ben shook his head. "If that rift engine wasn't tended to immediately, it would have melted down and led to a singularity that would swallow this tub in the blink of an eye!" In his ranting, Ben didn't notice he timed out and held his glare in his human form. "You don't have to thank me, but DO NOT assume all aliens are malicious!"

Ben shook his head. "Trust me. The engines were heavily damaged in your last battle and would have gone critical had you attempted a jump with the engines in their former state."

"Cortana," The Chief called over an encrypted private channel. "Prepare a cell for our prisoner and keep sharp for his companion."

Ben only sighed as the MPs cuffed him and led him to the brig. _Gwen's definitely going to kick my butt when she finds me._ As Bensat down in the cell, he looked up at the marines and glared at them. "Look…" Ben said as he shook his head. "…I would never do anything to harm anyone." Ben said as he pulled up his sleeve up to show the Omnitrix to the soldiers. "I use this to save those I can."

Cortana scanned the device on the strange young man's wrist and felt a moment of shock. Over a private link, she explained her surprising findings to John. "Ben may be telling the truth." The AI told him. "My preliminary scans pick up a strange form of energy with MILLIONS of genetic samples. Some of these samples are not carbon based, but there's no evidence of being designed for combat in the device's mechanics."

"So, he's a diplomat?"

John could feel Cortana's mood shift as if she were truly human. "From what I can gather, that's the intent behind the device's creation."

Gwen tossed and turned as she slept in the medical cot. "Ben," Gwen whispered as her face twisted in discomfort. Gwen ran through a battle zone in her mind. As she ran, Gwen recognized something odd about the terrain. Above her, stretching across the sky was a portion of a strange ring. "Where am I?" Gwen mumbled as she started walking. Strangely, Gwen could hear wildlife all around her. The young woman heard something, turned, and tried to access her magic to defend herself. Instead of Gwen's power coming to her aid; a strange voice, like a synthesized voice muffled in water, greeted her.

"You are in the process of connecting to The Domain." Gwen turned to raise a fist at the speaker but only saw a metallic, floating orb with a single blue optic. "I am 343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04."

Gwen glared at the orb. "Where am I?" Gwen asked as her eyes narrowed.

"You are still in your bed on the Reclaimer ship." He said calmly. "However, your mind is on Installation 04 with me." Spark said. "You must guide the human and his Ancilla to me. A threat to the Universe looms, and you must help Humanity battle it."

"What are you talking-?"

Before Gwen could finish asking her question, she woke up. "BEN!" The name leapt from her lips almost unconsciously in Gwen's moment of distress.

Gwen sat up in her bed in a cold sweat. Then, she looked around, sighed, and got up. Something pushed Gwen to find Ben. As Gwen walked down the halls, she shook her head. _He's probably being held by the soldiers because he did something with the Omnitrix, and they saw_ _Upgrade._ Gwen shook her head with a small smile at the thought of Ben being so hard-headed. _It's just like Ben to help anyone and damn the consequences._ Gwen's mind went back to when they were ten.

She was in the belly of a Florana because Ben wasn't paying attention. Tears ran down her face at the memory as Ben yelled and then the form of Fourarms yelled for her until she could no longer hear him. Gwen shook off the memory and cleared her mind to be able to find Ben.

As Gwen ran down the halls and tried to find the brig, her mind thought about the past. _Why did I run to Kevin of all people when we met him again?_

In her mind, Gwen heard Spark answer. " _You are scared to connect with Ben, as you call him, in the way you would wish."_ The voice laughed in an odd way. _"However, you desire to help just as he does and wanted to heal that which could not be healed"_ Guilty Spark seemed to release a sigh. " _You will not be able to help the Reclaimer or his Ancilla unless you repair your relations with your…Soldier."_

Gwen shook her head and actively blocked the Monitor from her mind. Then, she focused and tried to find Ben. "He called Ben 'your Soldier'." Gwen fought a laugh at the thought and shook her head. Then, Gwen's stomach growled. "I wonder if military grub is better than Grandpa Max's cooking." Gwen shook the thought away and slipped out of the medbay to find the galley.

Meanwhile, in his cell, Ben tried something Gwen always urged him to do. The young man crossed his legs in the Lotus Position and let his body relax as he controlled his breathing. As Ben's mind calmed down, his normally chaotic mindscape righted itself. Thinking with an uncluttered mind, Ben tried to tug at Gwen. Ben and Gwen were both stunned when Gwen reacted to Ben's prodding.

"Ben, stop it! You're driving me nuts!" Gwen's cheeks colored a slight shade of pink when she realized she responded to Ben aloud from the expressions on the marines' faces. Some of them looked at her in confusion, some grinned, and some only shook their heads at her.

Gwen only sighed, got her food, and quickly choked down the "food" As she ate, Gwen smiled. _I told you that you could do it, Ben._

 _Yeah…let me try something._ Ben thought as he attempted to make an energy ripple around himself.

Gwen felt it and laughed to herself. _Don't try too much at once, Ben; but I've got your SOS. I'll be there soon._

Ben only nodded and suddenly felt very tired. _A little nap won't hurt me._ Ben decided as he curled up on the floor of his cell and drifted off.

Ben knew the instant he started dreaming because the colors around him were too vibrant and alive to be real. "Where am I?" Ben asked as he looked around in confusion,

"Your mind is on the Shield Word Requiem while your body continues to rest." A feminine voice answered him calmly.

Ben turned to look at the source and froze as his eyes caught sight of the owner of the voice. Ben blushed and shook his head. "GWEWN?!"

The alien smiled and laughed. "No, I am not your Heart." She said softly. "The closest approximation to who I am in your tongue, Truth-of-Falling-Star, would be to call me 'Librarian'."

Ben nodded, "Why am I here?"

"I must heal you." The Librarian responded. "When you and your Heart were lost to us, you both were flung through time to Erde-Tyrene in the year you call 1995. Your Heart's protection protocols reverted you both to infants to avoid detection and to be properly cared for."

Ben nodded slowly. "So, I'm not Hamanune…?"

Ben's shocked expression at the strange name that came so easily from his mind made The Liberian smile. "Your mind is of us, Forerunner. Your body is now Hamanune or Human as they now identify themselves." The Librarian seemed slightly irritated at the name change, but the moment of irritation passed at quickly as it arrived.

"Awaken…my son."

Ben groaned as the loud voice of a guard beat against his ears. "Time to get up!" The man roared. "Captain Keys wants to chat with you!"

As Ben got to his feet, The Omnitrix started flashing between green and yellow. Ben gave the device a passing look and felt it link to his mind somehow. _A final gift…_ The voice of the Librarian spoke in Ben's head, this only clearly a recording. _A neural link is now established between your mutation matrix, and I took the liberty of loading a Combat Skin on the device for you._

Ben looked at the Omnitrix and grinned at the "new alien" now showing in the Omnitrix's holographic display. The "skin" looked a little like the Spartan's armor but was much slimmer. The design reminded Ben of a scaly Ghostfreak with human legs and navy blue scales. A weapon of some kind seemed integrated into the suit's right arm while the left arm had a hand with five fingers coming out of gauntlet that seemed to be a shield emitter of some sort.

"Let me change into my dress uniform first." Ben told the guard before he activated the Omnitrix.

Ben's new armor slipped over his body gradually under the cover of the Omnitrix's blinding flash, but when the flash dissipated, Ben could see the man reaching for his sidearm. With only a thought, the weapon that replaced Ben's right hand retreated to show a duplicate of Ben's armored left hand.

"I'm standing down…" Ben said calmly as the helmet folded away to show Ben's face. "Let's go talk to Captain Keyes."

 **Please Read and Review.** What do you think of Ben's new armor? Cool? Too much? Tell me, please.


	3. Two: Coping

Chapter Two: Coping

Captain Jacob Keys was, to use an old expression, "fit to be tied". He paced back and forth in his office with his hands behind his back. "Cortana, have you been able to analyze the strangers?"

Cortana appeared on the holopad in front of the captain and shook her head. "No one should have been able to survive in space long enough to be rescued." The AI growled. "No known species Humanity has encountered has the physiological structure to be able to survive in space. Decompression alone would make the body implode. Then, one must consider cosmic radiation and the temperature extremes of space…"

Cortana stopped as soon as the captain held up his right hand.

Captain Keys walked up to the holopad. "I know what should have happened." He said as he glared at Cortana. Then, his face softened. "That's what worries me, Cortana." The captain began pacing. "Humans robust enough to survive in space is an uncomfortable discovery on its own."

He pulled up footage of the strange creature that altered the _Autumn_ 's engines with ease from the cameras in the engine room and looked at Cortana's avatar as worry lines deepened on the man's face.

"Coupled with an unknown extraterrestrial entity that can merge with and manipulate complex technologies easily, I don't like the scenarios this could lead to, Cortana."

Cortana looked at the captain. "I don't think they are a threat unless provoked, sir." She made the engine room footage reappear with synced radiation measurements in the bottom corner. "According to data gathered from safety instruments inside, the radiation levels were indicative of critical engine failure until the creature fused with the reactor and created redirection housing for the engines, drastically reducing radiation to minimal levels while simultaneously increasing reactor output by at least thirty percent."

Captain Jacob Keys stared at Cortana for a moment as his brain tried to process what he heard. _An alien saved human lives?_ He thought. Contact: Harvest proved to be Humanity's rude awakening to the fact that we were not alone in the universe. Like a bad science fiction movie from the 20th and 21st centuries, Humanity was hilariously outclassed in technological sophistication by this new threat, but now, for the first time since the war for Humanity began, Captain Keys felt hope well up inside him.

"I wanna meet these newcomers and judge for myself what their intentions are." The captain sighed. "We can't afford to be stabbed in the back, not now."

Cortana nodded. "I still wonder about that woman. I trust the young man. It's the redhead that makes me nervous."

Keys gave Cortana's avatar a look but said nothing. _AI aren't supposed to show fear or nervousness. What's going on with you, Cortana?_ Then, he spoke to a marine. "Bring our guests here. I want to talk to them."

Meanwhile, Ben walked toward the captain's office in his armor, drawing attention from many of the men.

"Do you know who that is?" One guy whispered.

A woman responded. "I heard he's a new breed of SPARTAN."

Ben shook his head and almost laughed. Then, he thought about Gwen. "Where's my cousin?"

The armed escort to his left answered in an Australian accent. "Your friend is being taken to the captain by a second escort." Ben just nodded and kept walking. _I would love to go XLR8 right now, but I need to make sure these Humanush trust me._ The strange descriptor for Humanity rolled through his mind as easily as water through a channel. Ben shook the name away and continued walking, garnering stunned looks from whoever watched him.

In the captain's office, Ben felt relief rush through him when he saw Gwen.

The redhead smiled, "Hey, Doofus. Nice upgrade."

Ben chuckled. "It's an awesome suit for the real hero, Dweeb!"

Gwen just rolled her eyes and looked at Captain Keys. "We are here as ordered, sir."

The captain motioned to two chairs in front of his desk. "Sit, please."

Ben looked at Gwen. "With all due respect, sir, we'd rather stand."

Keys nodded and stood himself. "I'm going to be as frank as I can be, people. You gave my men quite the scare out in space. We expected you both dead from a multitude of causes, yet you behave as though nothing happened."

Ben shrugged. "It's a long story, captain."

Gwen looked at Ben with a light glare. "What my cousin means to say, sir, is that we were thrown into what you call a Slipspace Rupture with an unknown exit vector and wound up outside your ship."

The captain nodded and gestured to Ben's suit. "…and your armor, son?"

Ben looked at him and noticed the holopad next to him. "I'm sure your AI can tell you." Ben said evasively as his face hardened. "As we've been standing here, she has been scanning it."

Keys looked at Ben in surprise. Then, he looked at the holopad as Cortana's avatar came to life atop it. "The armor is a dense biotech mesh, harder than diamond but still flexible enough to not hinder movement. Under the outer armor is a layer of data crystal with the capacity to house several Smart AIs' worth of information." She seemed to squint at something. "In addition, there are 'couplings' of data not unlike a neural interface for the onboard AI to link directly to the wearer's mind."

Keys raised an eyebrow at the description. "This suit is some hyper-advanced battle armor?"

Cortana's avatar gave a nod. "The suit refers to itself as a 'Level Twelve Combat Skin' but yes sir."

Ben could see the muscles in the captain's body become rigid at the affirmative Cortana gave him. "We have no intention of harming anyone." Ben promised. "Back home, Gwen and I are part of an intergalactic peacekeeping force."

The captain nodded but stopped as he realized something. "You altered the _Autumn_ 's reactors."

Ben only shook his head. "I saved thousands of lives and got thrown in the brig for my troubles!"

Gwen placed a hand on Ben's armored shoulder. "These people only know aliens that wish to kill them." Gwen said softly. "They don't know of the Galvan, Petrosapians, or Florauna."

Ben shivered at the last species mentioned. "I trust you, Gwen."

Gwen nodded and turned back to the captain. "We will follow orders, sir."

Ben's glare turned cold. "Unless you order us to go against each other."

Captain Keys nodded, "Understood." He then turned to Cortana.

"Prepare the cryobay for three." He ordered. "When we come out of this rift, we'll need you two and the Chief to be ready. A month of waiting dulls the iron." Keys said calmly.

Ben and Gwen looked at each other. "Is it safe?" Ben asked.

Gwen added an annotation to Ben's question. "Sir, where we come from cryo-technology is dangerously experimental."

The captain nodded and turned to Cortana, who held a suspicious look on her avatar's face.

"The technology is in regular use for long voyages through Slipspace." Cortana reasoned. "It's perfectly safe."

Ben nodded and looked at Gwen who smiled at him. Then, he nodded to the captain and AI. "Lead the way."

The captain nodded. "Follow me."

Ben and Gwen walked down the halls of the Autumn. Gwen looked around at the ship with wonder in her eyes. Ben, on the other hand, fought not to laugh. "Man, this place has a lot of empty space."

"Remind you of anything? It should, Doofus."

Ben shook his head, missing Gwen's attempt at a joke.

"The architecture is bulkier than Tetrax's ship." Ben mumbled to himself. "This is Tier 6 tech back home, a little more primitive than some starships but still impressive."

Gwen gave Ben a wary look at his analysis of the ship on which they were currently stranded. "Ben?"

Ben smiled at Gwen. "I've been studying Plumber Technology Manuals." He said with a grin of pride. "Don't blow a gasket, Dweeb."

Gwen sighed. "It's just…for a few moments, you sounded like Kevin gushing over a piece of tech."

Ben blushed and scratched the back of his head in nervousness. "Sorry, Gwen."

Gwen frowned. "It's still fresh. I can't believe he did that to me!"

The immature and cocky ten year old that still existed in the back of Ben's mind wanted to scream, "I TOLD YOU SO!"

However, now wasn't the time for gloating. Now was the time to help Gwen heal and be there for her. "Gwen, if you wanna talk-"

Gwen cut him off. "Part of me knew he could never be redeemed." Gwen whispered as her eyes began to cloud with tears. "Me being me, I thought I could fix him!" Gwen lost it in the next moment as her knees buckled and sent her to the deck sobbing.

Ben gave Gwen a soft smile and knelt. Then, he gently made her look at him. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't try to fix him." Ben smiled so widely, it reached his eyes and seemed to shine out of them. "That's why I…" Ben trailed off as fear took hold of him.

"Why you what, Doofus?"

"That's part of you I enjoy. Don't ever change for anyone. Two secret words is all you need to know…"

Gwen smiled and nodded as she wiped her eyes. "Let's go! I doubt the Captain can wait."

Cortana watched the interaction from the cameras and found herself in an odd place. She saw much of herself and Chief in the strangers. Granted, Ben was much more…human than Chief; but their core personalities were very similar. Both stood for their respective families and fought through Hell for what they believed in. Cortana also noticed something curious about the redhead, Gwen. Her vitals spiked only twice while on board thus far. First, her vitals spiked in the captain's office at the mention of these "Florauna". Now, on their way to meet the captain, her vitals jumped again at the mention of someone named Tetrax. _I wish I knew more about them, but she seems to suffer from some PTSD related to those items._ Cortana complained to herself.

For now, Cortana busied herself by prepping the cryonic chambers.

"Chief, Cryo Beta is ready."

No words ever came to her, just a soft brush of Chief's neural lace against her communication subroutines as a show of acknowledgment. Maybe it was the augmentations Chief went through to become a SPARTAN, or Cortana had spent so much time in his head while in the thick of the Battle for Reach. Whatever the reason, the way she perceived his neural patterns ("Feel" seemed too organic of a word to use to describe the interaction.) was unique among the human wave patterns logged in her memory.

Terminating the wandering thoughts of her SPARTAN, Cortana readied pods alpha and gamma for Ben and Gwen. Cortana's analysis subroutines found a communication channel frequency Ben's armor would most likely be able to perceive and use.

"Ben, Cryos Alpha and Gamma are ready for you and Gwen."

It took the human a moment to realize Cortana talked via a comm in his suit and a chuckle echoed through the AI. "Well, hey, Gorgeous." Ben chirped. "Gwen and I are on our way."

Gwen glared at him through his visor. "Ben, you're quite chatty."

Ben shrugged. "What's the problem? You're not my girlfriend."

Gwen sighed and shook her head. "She's a computer program, Ben!"

Ben raised an eyebrow under his visor. "Are you jealous?"

Gwen glared at him. "She is a MILITARY AI, Ben!"

Ben only chuckled. His plan to covertly uncover Gwen's feelings toward him was working perfectly. The fact that Cortana chose an attractive avatar for herself only helped his argument because if Gwen became agitated by a pile of bits in human form, it was a sure sign of what lay underneath.

As Gwen climbed into the cryopod on Chief's left with soft coaxing from Ben, she felt claustrophobia begin to come over her. Before the pod was activated but after the hatch closed, Gwen's panic hit its zenith. "Ben, help me!" Gwen pleaded as the cryopod morphed into the gullet of a Florauna in her mind.

"Get her out of there NOW!" Ben demanded of the tech. Shaking his head because the tech didn't respond immediately, Ben glanced down at the Omnitrix for a moment as the green dial beckoned to him. Then, Ben saw it covered in orange and red. Shaking his head violently to rid himself for the ghostly image, Ben glared at the hatch and ripped it off its hinges with a growl of effort. Alarms blared and red lights flashed as Ben threw the door away. Then, Ben gently took Gwen in his arms. "It's ok, Gwen. Shshsh…I'm here. I'm here." He whispered as he rubbed her back while she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I shouldn't have asked you to go in there." Ben said as he looked away from Gwen.

The redhead looked at him. "You wanted me to stay safe while in transit on the ship." Gwen said softly. "The cryopod was a good idea." Gwen said as she tried to calm Ben. "I just couldn't handle the…coffin-like design."

The tech looked at Ben. "Do you still want to go under, son?"

Ben nodded. "I can't afford to not be at my best when shit hits the fan. Months of inactivity would drive me nuts and dull me."

Gwen nodded at Ben "…if you really think that's best."

Ben could see the doubt in her face. He kissed her, just a soft peck on the lips. "I'll be fine, Dweeb. Trust me." His words grew soft as he spoke. Then, Gwen squeezed his armored hand. Ben smiled and gently squeezed back before he let go of her hand and climbed in the pod. "Good night, Dweeb." Ben smiled as the concoction began to fill his lungs and put his hand on the door where Gwen's was on the outside. "Wake me…" Ben said drowsily. "…when you need me." With that, Ben closed the hatch over him and relaxed as the cryo-vapor did its work and lulled him into the strangely familiar sensation of cryosleep.

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	4. Three: Talks with an AI

**Author's Note: Bold Type** is inter-system communication.

Chapter Three: Talks with an AI

Gwen sighed as she put a hand on Ben's cryopod. "See you soon, Doofus." Gwen said with a sad frown as she looked away from the pod and down at the grey deck below her feet. _Right now, Ben would tell me to lighten up or he'd kick my butt._ The thought both made Gwen smile and confused Gwen "Not even five minutes and I'm already missing him?" Gwen grumbled. "What's wrong with me?"

Gwen sighed, shook her head at the question, and looked around. She doubted there would be a library on board, but it wouldn't hurt anything to look around and familiarize herself with the ship while she searched. After all, what else was Gwen going to do while she waited for Ben and the Chief to wake up when the men needed them? As she walked into the data center, she sighed and shook her head. _I guess this is_ _what passes for a library in the 26_ _th_ _century?_ The redhead sighed and put her frustrations away for the time being "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

As she accessed the ship's data net for a more thorough look into the history yet to be for her and Ben, Gwen couldn't help the feeling that she was home after a long stint away. The feeling of the data rolling across the screen was oddly soothing to Gwen as she read through future history. Finally, after some time catching up, Gwen felt satisfied that she had enough information to navigate this new world relatively easily.

Cortana watched Gwen from a camera in the data center nd would have smiled had she had her avatar active. "Gwen," The AI stated softly with a frustrated look on her unseen digital face. "Why do you access data like the humans?"

Gwen looked at the avatar in confusion as she got up from the data terminal and crossed her arms arms she glared hard at the pedestal Cortana could use to materialize her avatar. "What?"

Cortana smiled as her avatar came to life atop the emitter. "You're more like me than you are Human." Cortana told her as the avatar's code glowed slightly. "Trust yourself and look back. How did you first access this 'magic'?"

Gwen walked over to the avatar's pedestal and looked at the representation of the computer that was Cortana as he'd glare deepened. "How would you know about magic or what I am and am not?"

Cortana grinned. "'Magic is just science that we don't understand yet.' From information I've been able to compile, Forerunners technological prowess largely could be seen as 'mystic' or otherworldly."

"Ok…that explains my powers. What about me not being Human?"

Cortana cocked her head to the side and turned her eyes toward Gwen. "The first readings I got when I received data from the cameras confirms it. You're a data core in a Human shell."

Gwen raised an eyebrow as the last bit of her mind resisted what Cortana was telling her. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're a Forerunner Ancillia, an artificial intelligence like me."

Gwen shook her head and glared at the avatar in anger. "I AM NOT SOME LIFELESS MACHINE!"

Cortana shook her head and glared hard at Gwen. "I'm not a machine either." As if to prove her point, Cortana folded her arms and shot Gwen a piercing look. "I'm just life in unique form that just so happens to exist inside computer systems."

Understanding dawned on Gwen in that moment as Cortana finished her explanation. "I'm just different."

Cortana gave Gwen a nod of conformation. "Would you be willing to continue this in the ship's mainframe?" Cortana asked. "I can't stay on this pedestal indefinitely, but I can help you learn to accept this part of yourself, Gwen."

Gwen tapped her chin as she considered the AI's offer. _How would I even begin to access this part of myself?_ She considered what Cortana said about Gwen's magic and the Forerunner's astounding technological achievements of the ancient alien race. _Spells are programs inherent in the Universe?_ On a hunch, Gwen sat down in the Lotus Position and focused on her internal energies. Strangely, a blue orb grew in Gwen's mind as she focused on the goal of getting inside the ship's computer system.

 _That's it!_ An ancient but soothing voice spoke in Gwen's mind. _Remember who you are._

After the voice, Gwen looked at her hand and saw that instead of human skin tones, her hand was a vivid sky blue, similar to the energy she used when she was younger on their first summer together. As Gwen continued to focus, Gwen felt herself lift out of her body and jump into the _Autumn_ 's data systems.

This is new. Gwen thought as she "looked" around the data relays and was surprised to find that she could understand most of the code around her.

As Gwen moved along the data paths, she thought she sensed someone or something tugging at her consciousness. Gwen turned and saw a data form of Cortana. Gwen looked at the AI and shook her head.

 **What?**

Gwen laughed. **If someone would have told me a few days ago that I would be talking to an AI from INSIDE a computer network, I would have laughed at them.**

Cortana smiled. **I'm pretty sure this is a bizarre day for you.**

Gwen shook her head. **With my life, this is normal.**

Cortana gave Gwen a bemused expression. **You said that you and Ben are part of a peacekeeping force on Earth. What does that involve?**

Gwen gave the digital approximation of a sigh. **Most of what we do is classified, but we grew close because of our experiences.**

 **Like the Chief and me…**

Gwen nodded, but the code that comprised her body flickered. **Then, there's Kevin…**

Cortana's interest about Kevin piqued because of the shift in Gwen's code as she mentioned the man. **Who is Kevin?**

 **As a kid, he tried to kill us multiple times because he became addicted to the energy in the device on Ben's wrist.** Gwen shook her head in anger. **When we met again, he seemed to have recovered somehow.**

 **You thought it would be wise to date him? ARE YOU RAMPANT?!**

Gwen glared at Cortana. **I was scared.**

 **Why?**

Gwen looked Cortana in the eyes to make a human comparison to the digital reality. **Humans of my time frown on the relationship I desire with Ben.**

 **That's still not a reason to lose your mind.**

 **I'm sure fear is an alien concept to a collection of code such as yourself, but fear is very real for organics, myself included. It protects us.**

 **I know a digital analog for fear. I feel it a little more every day.** Cortana cleared her communication cache and turned to Gwen. **What made you realize you love Ben?**

Gwen consolidated her code and focused on her words as a back process in her code recognized an intentional change of subject. **The Watch malfunctioned because of a DNA weapon one of our enemies used.** The strength of her mind faltered for a moment at the memories that came back to Gwen in full force. The result of the mental anguish made her digital representation falter and fall to its "knees". Gwen composed herself and consciously terminated the memory's data stream. **After tracking down the alien that built the Watch, we were attacked by…** Gwen's coded representation flickered for a few cycles. **…creatures called Florauna.** Gwen stopped talking at this moment.

Cortana noticed the fear and softy said, **You almost died on this mission.**

Gwen only gave a small, **Yes.**

Cortana let her code brush Gwen's and spoke, **If Ben is anything like John, you have nothing to worry about.**

 **Thank you, Cortana.** Gwen had a thought in that moment. **What is John to you?**

 **He's…unique.** Cortana's code seemed to glow slightly brighter at the mention of the Spartan. **While all the other Spartans had various attributes that made them good soldiers, John had luck on his side, an unquantifiable edge in battle….** Cortana smiled in a way that seemed oddly sensual for a computer. **An unknown and uncountable variable is…** Cortana paused for a full half second. **…attractive to me.**

If Gwen didn't know better, she would say Cortana became flustered after divulging that particular detail about herself. The idea of a computer acting so…human made Gwen want to laugh at the absurdity of the thought. Then, she reminded herself of her own life with a shapeshifting cousin and an intergalactic retired cop grandfather and quelled the laughter before it could come out.

Unaware of Gwen's thoughts about her, the AI continued her story. **As we fought together on Reach, I learned much more about him by watching his brain activity.** Cortana's code turned pink for a microsecond at the admission.

 **Are you embarrassed about wanting to be with him?**

 **No, but it's a breach of etiquette to be privy to another's thoughts constantly.** Cortana told Gwen calmly.

Gwen did laugh this time. **You act as if you have a choice in reading his brain activity.** Gwen's giggle quieted. Then, she continued to explain her opinion of Cortana studying the Spartan's mental patterns. **It's part of your…** Gwen almost said "programming" but decided against it. **…directives to monitor his vitals. Correct?**

 **Yes, but-**

Gwen cut Cortana off, which was an impressive feat. **Brain activity is part of his vital readouts, arguably the most important part of the readings. Then, you would be ignoring your directives to omit monitoring his mind.**

Cortana looked at Gwen and nodded, accepting Gwen's reasoning before she continued to tell Gwen of her interactions with John.

 **After Reach, I've come to respect John. The Chief may be stoic as anyone can be, but we are connected...by this war.**

Gwen looked at Cortana as Gwen's own code glowed as if there was a smirk attached to the redhead's next question. **The question is: How deep does that connection go?**

 **For me, it goes deeper than I'm willing to admit to most, but I'm an AI with an operating period of approximately 61,320.2 hours or roughly seven standard years.** Cortana simulated a sigh. **I'll be long descended into Rampancy before John ever retires from the UNSC.**

Gwen felt a spike of pain roll through her for Cortana as she realized Cortana did know fear in mortality and tried to comfort the AI. **You still have now.** Gwen told Cortana. **In the meantime, Ben and I could find a way to repair your code so that you have a similar life expectancy to him.**

Before Cortana could answer, something drew her attention to a particular set of code. **We're about to exit Slipspace, and you might want to get around to waking Ben. Forerunner glyphs are all over these exit coordinates.**

Gwen only nodded as her consciousness began to go back to her body. Once Gwen entered her body, the young woman took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and stood. "Thanks for the talk."

From there, Gwen walked over to the Cryobay and began to defrost Ben. Deep inside, Gwen felt she was working against a clock. Worse yet, when she saw the cryopod controls, Gwen realized she had no idea how to operate the console and panicked slightly.

 **Cortana, a little help?**

The AI didn't respond verbally, but a surge of energy ran through Gwen as her hand covered itself in blue energy as it came in contact with a data conduit nearest the console. Then, Gwen felt her hands go on autopilot and hurriedly thawed her hero. A few seconds after the defrost process began, Gwen felt the ship leave Slipspace and groaned as she sensed the passive Manna shift that indicated a massive introduction of life energy. After a moment of trying to guesstimate how many troops were converging on the _Autumn._

Gwen shook her head of the wandering thought and turned her full attention to the console in front of herz. Gwen worked furiously to get the system to thaw Ben out as quickly as possible without harming him, her hands a blur as she flew about the switches and dials.

When Ben stumbled out of the pod and gained his feet approximately two and half later, Gwen spoke, "Sorry about the quick thaw, but the Covenant is here, Ben. Time to show these aliens what Ben Tennyson can do!"

"Not without you, Dweeb…" Ben said calmly as the last of the hibernation fog left him, and he activated his weapons. "Let's do this!"

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	5. Four: The Reclaimer of the Covenant

"Text"-normal speech

"(Text)"-naturally spoken Sanghieli

 _"Text"_ -Sanghieli spoken via translation software

 _Text_ -thoughts

Chapter Four: The Reclaimer of the Covenant

Inside the combat skin's helmet, displays and readouts of different information came to life on his HUD. In the right top of the view-screen, Ben noted what appeared to be a live EKG. Below that on the bottom right, a motion tracker warmed to life. In the top center, a large bar that spanned from far center right to far center left indicated shield integrity. On the left top corner, Ben saw a rectangular graph-like display and looked at it in confusion until he thought of the weapon built into his suit's right hand. _Plasma weapons need a cool down time._ Satisfied with that explanation for the strange graphic that replaced an ammo counter, Ben continued to quickly survey the data relays from his suit. Directly under it, a symbol that resembled a grenade with a "0" next to it made Ben smile in spite of himself.

Ben looked around the cryobay and tensed as alarms blared around him. Men ran about going to their battle stations.

"Covenant boarding parties inbound!" A voice droned over the PA. It took Ben a moment to realize that Cortana still sat pretty in the system. Ben looked over and noted the chief's helmet twitch toward Cortana's voice for a microsecond.

Then, the captain walked up and handed the solder a pistol. "I don't keep it loaded, so you'll have to find ammo as you go." He smiled at the armored man. "Give 'em Hell, Chief."

As Chief started to exit the room, an explosion rocked the cryobay. Ben felt his adrenaline start pumping. Then, Ben shook his head and powered up his plasma blaster for whatever may come through the billowing fog. However, before he could think to fire, a blue field pushed the invading force back through the boarding tubes into the vacuum of space.

"Ben, we're out of our element here." Gwen spoke, but the brunette didn't see her. Instead he saw her picture with a waveform next to it in the bottom left of his display. "We get out and engage the Covenant on the ground."

Ben nodded unconsciously. "Acknowledged…" For a heartbeat, Ben didn't speak. "Be careful, Gwen."

Once the connection cut out, Ben received his first look at the enemy. Four squat things with breathers and interesting weapons clad in unflattering bright orange armor accompanied by a fearsome looking, roughly three meter tall lizard man with no tail and four mandibles clad in blue armor armed with what reminded Ben of a Kenatronic Blaster Inspector 13 carried if the plasma emitter housing was absent and painted blue instead of red.

Ben fired a few test blasts into the smaller aliens as they fired at him, making an unconscious note of his weapon's gauge lighting up as he used the suit's built-in weapon. In his periphery, Ben noticed his shields flare slightly as the rounds hit the invisible buffer zone. Unwilling to field test the shield to its collapse threshold, Ben rushed the lizard alien and drove his fist into the alien's face. As purple blood sprayed from the creature, the hourglass of the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist turned yellow for a moment and back to green, compleately unnoticed by Ben in the heat of battle.

At that moment, Ben felt the _Autumn_ shake violently. _Damn, lost the MAC…_ Ben thought with a bad taste in his mouth. "Gwen, meet me at the lifeboats." Shaking his head in irritation for reasons even he didn't really understand, Ben forged on, angry and needing to vent as he worked his way through enemy squads to the pods. "Tell Cortana to ready herself for EVAC," Ben said with a calm anger in his tone. "They won this round, but it won't be pretty next time."

As Ben's hand touched the pod door, the young man felt a jolt ran through his body. Then, he shook his head and sprinted for a Covenant loading tube. "I hope I know what I'm doing."

With that thought in his mind, Ben looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist and cycled through the aliens until he saw the creature he wanted. With a deep breath, Ben activated the Omnitrix and felt his body and armor shift to fit his selected form.

"(I am Teg 'Lodum.)" Ben felt himself say as he looked down at his new form, now dressed in the armor of a Sangheili Major and formed his mandibles into his best approximation of a smile with his strange mouth structure. _This will definitely be interesting._

As Ben ran, he heard Gwen call him. "I'm a bit busy right now, Dweeb." Ben said, noting how his voice changed with this new body.

Gwen noticed the unfamiliar alien voice as well, her face growing into a frown as she ran to meet Ben. When she met him at the boarding tube, Gwen slapped him. Ben felt an alien instinct rise to strike her but held it back and listened to her rant. _I guess all warrior races don't like to be attacked._ Ben thought only mildly surprised by the urge to retaliate because, after all, he'd handled his frustration with Gwen as RATH before with little trouble and simply directed the anger elsewhere.

"What are you thinking, Ben?!" Gwen growled. "This isn't attacking criminals, Doofus. This is war!"

Ben shook his head and growled, his mandibles rattling in clear aggravation.

"In this body, I will be trusted by these genocidal bastards and be able to give information to the UNSC about enemy plans and movements."

Gwen glared at him. "This is dangerously stupid, Ben!"

"I will not hear any more of this!" Ben growled as the alien anger at being challenged by his cousin surfaced again but this time there was a note of innate pride in Teg 'Lodum's voice. "Your fear is misplaced Gwen."

Gwen shook her head. "I am your Keep in this strange universe, Benjamin."

The use of the term "Keep" caught Ben off guard. He didn't know why, but something compelled him to glare at her then look at his alien feet.

"Forgive me." The alien whispered without Ben's consent.

Gwen smiled, "Just remember, the Keep fights together or not at all."

Ben pressed his mandibles together in an attempt to smile.

"As you wish, My Queen."

Gwen smiled. _Ben probably doesn't realize what he just called me, and I won't bring attention to it._

Gwen shot Ben a quick look of warning and went to step into the boarding gate, but an alien hand stopped her. When Gwen looked back to see the face attached to the hand, she jumped ready for a fight. Gwen charged her hand with Magic to attack only to stop when she caught his green eyes.

Ben shook his head as a soft chuckle rumbled in his alien throat. Then, he looked at her in worry. "How will you blend in? I have the Omnitrix to maintain my Sangheili body, but you don't even have an Active Camouflage generator."

Gwen smiled and mumbled as spell as her body coated itself in energy. As the energy dissipated, Gwen seemed to vanish. "Invisibility spell…" Gwen's disembodied voice explained.

Ben stared at the space where Gwen had been only moments before and shook his head. "By the Precursors…you will be the death of me, Gwen."

As Ben and Gwen walked along the hall of light, Ben couldn't help thinking about the insult against all the Heads of Clans to keep the proud and noble brotherhood of warriors in the dark about the Forerunner's true heir to the Mantle of Responsibility. _Just how misguided were these member races?_

Before Ben could ponder the question further, two Sangheili guards stood at the opening and glared at him. "(What is your purpose here?)" One snapped.

The other guard shared his companion's sentiments. "(We serve the Holy Prophets, and they ordered us to secure this Holy Ring.)"

Ben growled in frustration. "(You utter fools!)"

The yell rang through the ship and garnered every ear in the ship. The Sangheili and other races present turned to the voice and stared at him. The Ship Master glared at Teg 'Lodum and walked over to him in anger. "(What in the name of the Great Journey do you think you are doing spouting this heresy about our Makers?!)"

Ben sighed as he fought back the urge to punch the male. Instead, Ben shook his head and walked up to the alien. "(Get…me…Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee. NOW!)"

The Ship Master stumbled back at the force that came from this apparent field unit commander. "(Under whose authority do you demand an audience?)"

Teg's uncharacteristic green eyes showed with irritation as he sighed and shook his head. "(I operate to uphold The Mantle of Responsibility as Son of the Librarian and under the Rate of Lifeworker.)" Teg growled at the man. "(I do not play games, Ship Master.)" Teg growled deeper as he pulled a plasma rifle from the male's side.

"(You are mad!)" The Ship Master said as he used anger to mask the growing fear in his voice and tried to wrestle the weapon from the rogue Sangheili. .

"(That may be…)" Teg conceded as he thought quickly of a way to talk himself out of the current standoff with the Ship Master. "(...but do you know the purpose of these 'Holy' Rings?)" This stunned the Ship Master enough to let Teg pull the being's arms behind his back.

"(The Prophets…they see all, and only they know the secrets of the gods.)"

The statement made Ben cringe, but if he could use this fanaticism to save Human lives, he damn sure would. To that end, Ben made his face a blank mask and deactivated the Omnitrix. Once the blinding green light faded, the Ship Master stared slack-jawed (or as close as a Sangheili could come to that state) in utter shock.

"(One of the Great Ones has graced my ship…)" The Ship Master managed.

" _Now,_ " Ben repeated, using translation software in his combat skin now that he was no longer one of them. "… _you're going to connect me to your Supreme Commander, or your lack of obedience will stay your feet at the time of The Great Journey._ "

The Ship Master's eyes widened in terror. "(I will diligently carry out your orders.)" Then, he tried to be as quick yet calm as possible in reaching the Supreme Commander.

Thel 'Vadamee stood at his bridge will different ships dispatching squads to the Sacred Ring to keep the Humans' defiling touch to a minimum. In doing so, he dispatched Phantoms to the surface of the Sacred Ring to cleanse it. Imagine his surprise when a hailing frequency from _Absolute Truth_ but that the Shipmaster claimed to be in contact with a Holy One.

"(Impossible!)" Thel growled.

A stranger's voice answered him. " _…says the guy who believes the Rings are a mode of becoming gods._ "

'Vadamee glared at his communication array. "(Who are you to dishonor the gods and speak such lies?!)"

Ben raised an eyebrow under his helmet. " _I am the last of the Forerunner._ " Ben growled. " _As such, I have no problem knowing about the truth of my own people._ "

Thel froze. _(If this is true, then, the Prophets have deceived us, and the gods are no gods.)_ The Supreme Commander shivered as the heretical thoughts rattled his mind and his faith.

"(Meet me on the Sacred Ring, Holy One.)" 'Vadamee proposed. "(Then, we shall find if what you say is truth or treachery.)"

As the commutation ended, the hero felt a shiver start down his back. When an invisible hand gently squeezed his shoulder, the trepidation vanished. Ben looked for a split second in the direction of the ghost hand and whispered, "Thanks, Dweeb."

As the hand lifted, Ben sighed and looked at the Sangheili around him. " _You warriors have heard what I told your Supreme Commander. Your 'Prophets' lead you to suicide._ " The young man couldn't help but notice many saurian hides craw at the word. " _Honorable death in combat is your way, but your Hierarchs spit on the Blood of Your Sons and the Blood of Your Fathers._ " Ben shook his head. " _I know trust is earned, but let me lead you to the Ring._ " He nodded toward the various creatures. " _Then, you may choose to honor me with your loyalty or kill me in your zeal._ "

A cheer rang out across the ship as Ben felt a rock land in his stomach. _I wonder if I'm doing the right thing._ Again, Ben felt Gwen's presence. This time, she hugged him from behind, her unseen arms bringing welcoming warmth to his midsection.

"You are meant for this, Ben." The redhead told him encouragingly. "You were always a leader. This is no different than when you lead us against the Highbreed."

Ben couldn't help a small grin at Gwen's comfort, but the nagging doubt remained. _I hope Cortana and Chief are successful with shutting this Ring down._

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	6. Five: Man or Machine?

Chapter Five: Man or Machine?

In the drop pod, Cortana could only wait as the escape pod fell. We shouldn't have that much- The thought vanished from her mental processes as a loud *BOOM!* shook the pod. Enemy fire? Cortana thought in confusion. The Chief didn't even show anything more than a small blip of acknowledgement in his brainwave pattern to show he heard the noise. A few seconds passed, and the deafening sound repeated itself. In her deepest subroutines, Cortana recalled the memory of Halsey as a child hiding under her covers at similar sounds. Thunder, is that what the sound is? Cortana thought.

"Odd..." the AI muttered over the MJNIOR helmet's speakers. "Atmospheric conditions deteriorated extremely rapidly."

John put a clip in his MAB5 and nodded as the pod continued to drop. "Someone doesn't want us here."

As John spoke, a loud *crack!* sent the pod tumbling to the ring below. In the chaos, Cortana watched in horror as all the marines' life signs went dark. Sighing internally, Cortana subdued her strangely human-like reaction to death and readied herself as the pod hit the dirt with an angry wet impact.

Outside the pod, rain came down in a monsoon-like fashion. Knowing they were dead didn't seem to phase the Chief as he glanced at the unmoving marines and pushed out of the lifeboat. Cortana would have raised an eyebrow at this had she had a way to show the expression. I suppose he's seen death before. The AI thought, trying to rationalize his nonexistent reaction to the death around them.

"We need to search the surrounding areas for survivors, Chief."

Silently, Chief nodded and took his weapon in hand. Together, the duo ventured out as Cortana once again found herself pondering the mental landscape of her Spartan. Why do you act like a machine, John? The AI thought as Sierra-117 forged through the downpour to find other troops.

So many dead, his brothers and sisters of the Spartan-II Program dead by insurgent and Covenant hands or crippled by the augmentations of the program. John knew himself to be flesh and blood, but the emotions that came with the human body only got in his way as a soldier. As such, John lived disconnected from himself in some capacity to keep his mind focused and sharp on the mission. John made certain to keep his emotions buried deeply because they only distracted from the mission.

However, something gnawed at the Spartan as he walked through the rain to the first crash beacon. A laugh from Linda at a joke courtesy of Frank sounded in the Spartan's ears. John froze. The sound continued to echo in his mind in spite of his best efforts to quell it and return his mind to the mission. Shut down the ring. The Chief's training growled in his mind. Stay focused, Soldier!

The hiss of the Chief's shields brought him back to reality. Plasma globs and needle shards descended upon them. Quickly, the Spartan took cover behind a boulder and waited. The noisy unsteady steps of Grunts on the wet grass made the ghost of a smile place itself on John's face as the soldier listened.

"He's here!" One squeaked. "Saw him!"

John continued to wait, biding his time until he heard the Elite Major react to his underlings foolishness in battle and gave away his position. John heard the Elite in question growl as the Grunts all froze. Then, John jumped out from behind his cover and gave the Elite an uppercut. Disoriented, the Elite roared and reached for his weapon but received two M9 shots to the head. As the Elite fell, John holstered his weapon, bludgeoned a Grunt with his machine gun, and used the alien's Needler to quickly dispatch the rest of the unfortunate unit.

Cortana watched her Spartan's mental patterns with slight worry, especially when the auditory hallucination took him out of the fight.

"Chief, are you alright?"

John kept walking with his head on a swivel toward the beacon. "Just some old ghosts…"

Cortana wanted to glare at him. She knew there was more to it. The spike in vitals during the episode told her as much. However, she also knew that the Spartans' mind and emotions were a lot like their armored appearance: tough, machine-like, and indestructible on the outside while protecting a soft and vulnerable human inside.

"I was a part of Blue Team just like you, John." Cortana told him as he continued to walk. "I was in your head when Linda and Frank met their ends."

John stopped and tensed, every muscle locked in a rigid restraint to keep the building hurt and anger inside. The only hints of aggression proved to be a low growl in his throat and dangerous spike in the Spartan's vitals. "Cortana, you are a program!" He spat, his anger driving his voice beyond its usual gravely monotone into something that tried to sound like rage but didn't quite make it. "Human pain and grief are unknown to you!"

Cortana reeled in John's mind as if she's been slapped. "Training, augmentation, relocating to Reach; I know your pain, John." The AI gave a sigh that had a hint of pain as if she were rubbing her stinging cheek while she spoke. In an attempt to soothe him, she reached to brush the digital junction that represented her connection to the human John, not Sierra-117 but John himself. "If you let yourself live mission to mission with no directive but what your superiors tell you, what are you, John?"

The Spartan gave a visible shiver in acknowledgment. How the hell can she do that?! Part of John's mind asked in confusion. "I am Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, last of the Spartan-IIs." His training said unconsciously.

Cortana gave an invisible nod. "That sounds very much like an AI designation."

John shook his head. "We have survivors to find, Cortana."

"When we find them, ask those men why they fight, John."

Ignoring the nagging curiosity of why, John filed the command away for later and continued on through the rainy terrain.

With no contacts for some time, John began to feel restless. To release this tension, he decided to talk. "Why do you want to be inside my head?"

Cortana was honestly surprised by the question. "It's part of my directives to maintain your health and safety. That includes your mental state." Cortana gave a weary sigh. "I can't have you chasing ghosts while in the middle of a battle."

The Spartan simply gave a mental sign of acknowledgement. That would render us both captured. Chief thought. I'm under orders to keep her safe. If I lost it during an engagement, Cortana would be at risk. Underneath the hard mental barrier of orders, discipline, and training; John felt fear when that thought crossed his mind. Why does losing her scare me?

Another five minutes of silence and the Spartan heard the familiar sounds of a firefight about three hundred meters northeast of his current position. John put a little more speed into his walk as he neared the crash site and prepped for combat.

Three quarters of a marine squad faced two Elite Majors and accompanied Grunts. Taking careful aim with the Needler, the Spartan picked off the annoying little assholes. Then, John turned his attention to the Elites. Thinking quickly, Chief reloaded the Needler with a full clip, ran, and slammed the pink spikes into one Elite while taking fire from the other. Then, with a quick shove the pincushion of an Elite knocked his comrade over before they both exploded in a dark pink fireball.

"Holy shit!" One marine remarked.

Another shared the amazement and whispered, "That's a Spartan. I thought they were only supposed to be rumor!"

John looked around and spotted a rolled over Warthog. With a light push, the Spartan righted the vehicle.

Shaking himself from a stupor, the squad CO simply motioned. "You two…with him. We'll move up and mop up behind you."

The two marines selected nodded and ran. "I've got shotgun!" One announced as the other took position on the turret.

Cortana laughed at the men's eagerness and sighed. "Welk, that was unexpected."

Chief looked over and saw the marine in the seat beside him peek at a photo inside a locket before the man put it back out sight. "Who is she?"

The marine seemed startled for a moment by the question but quickly recovered. "She's my wife." The man smiled wistfully. "I can't wait until I get to smell her perfume again."

The man looked at Chief, still clearly a little off put by the hulking man in the driver seat. "What about you?" He asked with a nervous smile.

"My family was glassed with Reach."

The marine looked away in sadness when he heard that and sighed. "The pain may get dull, but it never goes away."

"Yeah…"

The pain in John's voice made the AI want to jump out of the suit and hold him, comforting her soldier. Of course, only one who has been in John's head so much as she could perceive the slight hint of sadness in John's simple response that proceeded to tear at her. The idea itself was preposterous and made Cortana briefly question why she wanted to do something so drastic as to abandon her chip. Instead, all the AI could do in a feeble attempt at comfort was stoke the data connection between John's neural lace and herself.

Oddly, as she did so, subroutines that monitored the Spartan's vitals reported a slight dip in heart rate and respiration. There's no possibility of him perceiving this. Is there? Cortana questioned as she retreated from the junction.

To distract herself from the oddly embarrassing situation, Cortana broadened the range of the motion tracker and noted a large mass of enemy contacts surrounding a few friendlies.

"Heads up, boys." Cortana spoke through the external speakers. "Enemy contacts half a klick out. They've captured friendlies."

"Yes ma'am!" The two marines responded.

The one shotgun to Chief gave him a knowing look. "Girlfriend?"

John only grunted in response and continued driving.

Once at the engagement point, the two marines tensed, but they didn't fire. Something about the gathering of Covies around the odd person in armor made the men think twice about attacking. Of course, Cortana recognized the armored man as Ben Tennyson, but she didn't alert John to this fact. The AI contently watched to see if this self-proclaimed peacekeeper and diplomat turned out to be telling the truth. From the body language of the Elite Ben currently spoke with, the man proved very good at agitating beings of any species. The AI felt her code shift akin to a human nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"(HERACY!)"

Once the alien roared, the marines leveled their weapons at the mass of Covenant, but something unexpected happened as the Sanhgeili tried to fire on Ben's exposed face. A blue field of energy shielded Ben and absorbed the plasma blasts from the weapon.

With a growl, the enraged Saurian tried to beat his way through the shield. "(You dare hide from your fate, Heretic?!)"

"No," a feminine voice growled. Behind the field with her hands raised maintaining the shield, Gwen glared at the Supreme Commander. "I just don't like it when my cousin is attacked by a crazy cultist!"

A gasp radiated out from the group behind Ben, but he kept his eyes on Thel Vadamee. "I will not let the San'Shyuum fools doom my foster race because they think they know what my people left behind." Ben said as his green eyes burned with passion. "However, it seems painfully clear your devotion to this genocidal crusade is unwavering."

Ben gave Gwen a nod. Then, the field dropped. Faster than the lizard could react, Ben had a blade to his neck.

"We will have our Great Journey, human filth!"

Ben sadly shook his head and withdrew the weapon back into his armor. "I won't kill you today because senseless death is not needed, but…" Ben glared up into the eyes of his enemy. "…continue your Path, and I will kill you."

 **Please Read and Review. I hope I did an acceptable job of humanizing Chief.**


	7. Six: Pestilence

**Author's Note:** Life _finally_ slowed down enough for me to get back to this story. (You MIGHT hate me for this chapter.)

Chapter Six: Pestilence

"(Why do you fight us, Holy One?)" Thel asked in confusion.

Ben glared at Thel. " _Your faith is flawed._ " Ben got in the Sangheili's face which he suspected would agitate the male. " _I can't access my people's data network because much of it is corrupted by age or outright attack. I can't tell which, but there's something I can tell you, Fleet Master. Your 'Prophets' are fools._ " Ben felt something rise up in him as he continued to speak. " _They believe these Rings provide passage on a 'Great Journey' or afterlife of paradise. Correct?_ "

Thel seemed shocked. His mandibles fell slack at this Great One's words. "(Yes, are they wrong?)"

Ben opened his mouth to respond, but Gwen suddenly teetered out of the corner of Ben's eye and collapsed. Ben walked over and checked her vitals. An alert in Ben's suit kept pinging about something it called "Zoa".

 _Life…_ Ben's mind unconsciously translated. _…or more accurately life energy, Mana._ "Gwen, are you ok?"

Thel scoffed, a rough and threatening laugh rolled from his mouth. "(Your Human companion is unfit to set foot on this Holy Ring.)" He growled. "(See? It attacks her!)"

For the moment, Ben ignored the building urge to slug the Sangheili Fleet Master and gently held Gwen. As he brushed her hair, Ben couldn't help the worry he felt. _Is the Ring calling to her? She may not be a Monitor, but she is an Ancilla. Maybe?_ Ben growled in momentary frustration at being powerless to help and closed his hand into an irritated fist before he punched the ground.

Instead of speaking, Gwen put her hand to Ben's temple. _Flashes of twisted creatures and anger washed over Ben. Creatures like bulbs on spider legs jumped into dead Forerunner corpses. Then, the corpse twisted and mutated ghoulishly and attacked the armored Forerunner warriors_. _Other grotesque forms walked out of the sickly masses of dead and exploded like giant puss balls, releasing more quasi-spiders into the fray._

 _In the language of Digon, Ben heard someone yell, "(Containment failure! We must-)" The command morphed into a scream and finally a gurgle before the warrior became infected._

As Gwen pulled her hand away, Ben's sickly pale face began to regain color. Gwen looked at Ben and sat up. "The Mana around here is tainted…corrupted by something angry and vengeful. Think undead DNAliens."

Ben shivered. "Of course they would be arrogant enough to create…"

Gwen shook her head. "Go older, Ben."

Ben froze. "You mean…?!"

Gwen only nodded in reply.

"(Why do you converse with such a vile being?)" Thel questioned. "(She is not worthy of you, Great One.)"

Ben visibly tensed. Then, he turned on Thel faster than the Sangheili thought possible. " _Insult her again, and I will remove your honor!_ "

Thel stood, visibly shocked and confused. "(Why do you defend her?)"

Ben smirked under his helmet and lifted it off his head. At the sight of a Human under the helmet of a Great One's armor, Thel's mind reeled and scrambled for an explanation. His arms shook, but he didn't raise a weapon to attack. Confusion, shock, and odd reverence kept Thel from attacking the armored Human.

"Maybe, you should explain. You said something about this place's Mana being corrupted. What does that mean?"

In his mind, Thel began to recover, but something continued to bother the proud warrior. "(Why do you defer to your companion for guidance?)"

Ben looked up and spared a glance his way. " _I trust her more than I trust your guidance._ " Ben then turned back to Gwen. "You were saying before this fanatic interrupted?"

Gwen nodded. "There's something contained on the Ring that is Mana artificially twisted into a poisoned form of itself." Gwen shivered. "I can feel it writhing and moving the bowels if the installation."

"What is this 'twisted Mana' exactly?"

Gwen looked at Ben with a 'You know the answer.' Look. "This Ring is stocked artificially with flora and fauna. There would really be no reason to do this except if this place was a research station of some kind."

Chief walked up to the group, and looked at the pair of apparent Humans

"What would they be researching here that would require artificial ecosystems?"

Ben's eyes widened when he heard Cortana instead of Chief. In spite of the situation, the thought made Ben chuckle quietly to himself. At Gwen's sidelong look of mild annoyance, Ben feigned innocence and thought, _Seven foot tall Hulk but a female voice comes from him? It's funny!_

Gwen looked at the armored Spartan's visor. "Cortana, if one were to study a contagion, how would one go about it?" Gwen didn't wait for an answer and continued. "Direct study of a sickness is difficult. Instead, scientists study symptoms and vectors. This installation along with others are research labs for whatever I sensed deep inside the Ring."

"Impressive, Dweeb." Ben said with a nod. "Whatever's inside, we don't want to let it out."

Thel looked at the Forerunner and could sense the urgency of the conversation, but he couldn't understand the strange tongue the Humans and Construct spoke. The confusion showed on Thel's face until Ben realized the problem and pulled out a micro-disc from his suit. Once he placed the translator on Thel's arm, it melted into and fused with the armor's internal systems.

"(What did you do, Great One?)"

Ben nodded, stepped forward, and nodded. "I'm Ben Tennyson." He pointed to Gwen. "That's my cousin Gwen."

Thel adjusted better than Ben expected, but the next thing Thel said made Ben blush. "(She is your…mate? Why is she not at home, guarding your Keep?)"

Gwen sighed and gave the Elite a piercing glare. Thel took note not to insult the redheaded Human as he felt a bit of strange fear at her look. _(I must remember not to imply anything again in her presence.)_

"We fight together or not at all."

Thel seemed surprised at this but didn't let it show. Now was not the time for such trivial things after all. A Great One named Ben Tennyson showed him the truth of the Sacred Rings, and he would be a fool not to spread word from the mouth of a Great One himself of the San Shyuum's lies and deceit. Because of their foolishness, worlds could fall to this waiting infestation. "(Great One, what will you have me do?)"

"Command and lead my soldiers, sir. Gwen and I have to go with Chief and Cortana."

Thel nodded but still looked confused. "(Chief?)" When Ben pointed to the Spartan, Thel understood. "(You mean the Demon and his Construct.)"

"Go. Serve with honor."

Ben didn't wait for a reply and raced for the nearest door in the snow-covered landscape around him. After Chief and Gwen followed Ben inside, the teen sighed in relief. "I'm glad I'm away from the cult nut." Ben muttered. "Remind me to go back in time and slap myself every time I wanted adoration from fans."

Gwen gasped in mock shock. "The great Ben 10 doesn't want attention?!" Gwen put her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling ok, Doofus?"

Ben sighed. "I'm fine, Gwen. Impersonating gods is not what I had on the to-do list for today."

Chief looked at the pair. His voice stunned them out of their banter. "Cut the chatter. We've got a job to do."

Ben raised an eyebrow at that, _Why does he remind me of Ben 10K Jerkface?_ "Right, stop the Covenant from unleashing the Flood." Ben said with a nod as he and Gwen split off to the right while Chief went left.

"We'll regroup at the Control Center." Gwen said over comms.

A single acknowledgement light winked on Ben's HUD. Then, he nodded to Gwen who was the first to spot a row of dead Covenant and Humans.

When Ben noticed plasma burns on the Covenant bodies an anvil dropped in his stomach. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Gwen nodded and hurriedly snatched up a shotgun. Something told her the shells would destroy whatever came at her. Then, the door to their right opened and Gwen saw a shell shocked man sitting on a bench.

"STAY BACK! You're not turning me into one of those things!"

Gwen raised her hand to knock the man out with a Mana bolt but stopped when she heard skittering behind the door above them.

"Oh god! They're here!" Before Gwen could stop him, the traumatized man put an M9 round through his skull.

Gwen and Ben raised their weapons at the sound and trained them on the door while Gwen one-handed the shotgun to pick up the man's M9. After a few tense seconds, the door exploded. Twenty to thirty "spiders" from Ben and Gwen's shared vision leapt at the duo. Ben had his armor, so he wasn't worried about himself as far as the Infection Forms were concerned. However, Gwen with only a shotgun and pistol was not so well protected. Shotgun blasts echoed through the small room. Ben did his best to fry the annoying bastards with his built in weapon, but the little SOBs were agile. One found its mark and quickly attacked Gwen.

At Gwen's scream, Ben went absolutely berserk, killing anything and everything that moved to get to Gwen. When he knelt, Gwen continued to writhe and scream his name from pain and/or delirium as Gwen's right arm began to crack and undulate as the arm changed into the whip of a Combat Form. Ben looked at the Omnitrix and saw it flashing between yellow and green like it had with the DNAliens. "You can't have her, you sick fucker!" Ben growled with tears in his eyes as he touched her face with his Omnitrix hand.

"Attem-" Ben's own synthesized voice from the Omnitrix's AI started to question.

"Do it! NOW!"

When Gwen fell back with a tired sigh, Ben pulled her close and sobbed into her like a baby. "That was too close." Ben whispered as his body shook with emotion. "Gwen, please wake up."

When Gwen stirred with a groan an unknown amount of time later, Ben almost yelled for happiness.

"Ben, stop that humming."

"What? I don't…" Then, he heard it. A melody from beyond the door came to Ben's ears. The watery, metallic reverb to the voice sounded familiar, but Ben couldn't place it. "Can you stand?"

Gwen gently siphoned off some Mana from him, nodded and stood slowly, but she didn't speak. "Ben, I was so scared. I thought…"

Ben silenced her with a kiss. "Let's light this candle and get out of this hellhole."

With that, Ben and Gwen left the room behind them to see Sentinels mopping up the Flood while a lightbulb in a metal casing glided around the room still humming contently. "Greetings, I am 343 Guilty Spark, and the other species released the Flood. The Reclaimer must activate the Ring. (That is why I sent him to retrieve the Index.) Then, the other installations will ignite and destroy the Flood."

"…by starving them out!" Cortana appeared and glared DAGGERS at the Monitor.

"A Construct? In the core?! I will purge you at once!"

"Sod off!"

At that moment, Chief walked in. Cortana turned to him. "What are you doing?"

"Easy, Cortana. He's a friend."

"He's your pal; is he your chum?"

Ben and Gwen looked at each other and slowly backed away.

Ben looked at Gwen. _Why does this feel like a lover's quarrel between a jealous girl and her boyfriend?_

 _You noticed that, too?_

Ben gave her a look. _It's obvious!_

"We were going to activate Halo's defenses and destroy the Flood."

Cortana continued to act more like jealous girlfriend than an AI. "Did he tell you HOW the Ring accomplishes that?"

"It fires a pulse of…"

"Did I ask you?" Cortana spat at the Monitor. "No? Then, shut up!"

Ben looked at the Omnitrix and remembered how easily it cured Gwen. "If I may cut in…" Ben said as he stepped up. "If it is made to target all sentient life…"

"…with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood…" Spark added as Cortana gave him a lethal look.

"…could it be reprogrammed to target only the Flood?"

Spark seemed to ponder the suggestion for a moment. "Yes, but it would require a sample of Flood DNA and recoding portions of the firing programs."

"Omnitrix," Ben commanded as he got an idea. "Digitally encode Flood sample into the firing Index and reprogram Index."

"Genetic transfer: successful." The artificial voice responded after a moment. "Recoding: unsuccessful. Reason: unreadable code."

"I have to go in." Gwen said as she looked at the Index. "I'm the best chance we have of reprogramming the Index to accept the new programming."

Ben turned white with fear. "I almost lost you once already today! I can't…"

Gwen stopped him with a deep kiss. "Cortana will be in the system with me. Don't worry." Her face turned serious. "You and the Chief are to keep this room secure from Flood while we are in the systems. Do you understand?" After a moment, she repeated. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"YES, MA'AM!" Oddly, Ben could swear he heard Chief's voice echo off the walls with his as Gwen disappeared into Halo's core systems.

 **Please Read and Review.**


	8. Seven: Healing

Chapter Seven: Healing

Right after Gwen jumped into Halo's core systems to assist Cortana, Ben tensed as his motion tracker pinged a large swarm of enemy contacts. "Back to back!" Ben growled. "These things are annoying little bastards, but you don't want to let one near you."

Chief grumbled as he leveled his MA5B at the doorway. "We've met."

Ben nodded and charged his blaster. "There could be thousands of them."

Guilty Spark took this moment to notice Truth-of-Falling-Star's intriguing device on his left wrist. _Interesting…an Index on his wrist?_ Spark began floating and humming. _This bears investigation._ "Reclaimer, I must activate the sentinel guards for this sector. Please wait here."

Something about Spark made Ben uncomfortable. If he'd been online for over a hundred thousand years, the Lightbulb probably had a pile corrupted codes in his systems. That meant one thing for the Omnitrix Wielder: Spark couldn't be trusted. He briefly wondered why Chief didn't question anything Spark undoubtedly explained while Chief collected the Index.

"Chief, why do you trust, Spark?"

No sooner had Spark left than Ben began to hear watery growls and skittering across the floor. He and Chief tensed as their heads followed the sounds on a swivel.

All hell broke loose when a collection of Elite Combat Forms, Carriers, and Infection Forms swarmed the door. Chief mowed down the annoying bouncy balls of death with spray from the assault rifle. Then, he stuck it to a magnetic plate on his back and picked up Gwen's shotgun. A blast from the eight gauge destroyer blew a Combat Form to bits. "He was a necessary risk." Chief blasted a Carrier and smiled slightly as the blob exploded like a makeshift grenade. "I needed a guide through the bowels of Halo; he was it."

"Why didn't you check and see if Cortana had access to a comm system before you left her in the core?" Ben asked as the young man continued to fry hostilities with his laser. "She could have guided you and told you the truth before Spark could use you to do his dirty work."

"The mission came first." Master Chief said firmly. "I needed to destroy the Flood. Spark provided an immediate means to that goal."

Ben shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. "You remind me of my grandpa, Chief." The boom of a frag grande rocked the room. "When I first got the Omnitrix, Gwen and I didn't know Grandpa Max's past in the Plumbers. It was pretty neat when we did find out though. Grandpa had all this tech and other things built into the RV. Then, we found the Mask of Ah Puch. You can think of it like a map to a Halo Ring, if Halo Rings were built by Mayan gods." A series of shotgun blasts answered him. "After we found the Mask, Grandpa changed and became so focused on finding the mystical weapon of such destructive power before the enemy could, Gwen and I almost died."

As if the Flood were scared off by that statement from Ben, they stopped coming. "Don't let the mission blind you to your true duties to those you love, Chief."

Chief thought about this for a moment. In the middle of reloading the shotgun while his mind processed Ben's words, a yellow beam of light covered the SPARTAN's width and went down then up his body. On instinct, Chief cocked the gun in a flash and turned his weapon toward the source of the light and into Ben's face. "What did you do?!"

Ben held up his hands. "The Omnitrix scanned you for some reason." Ben looked as confused as Chief felt. "I don't know why, but it did."

Before Chief could answer, the hiss of laser weapons filled the air. After a moment, Spark entered the room followed by three vaguely star-shaped drones with a single optic, much like Spark.

"I have returned, Reclaimer." Spark said as he spun around gleefully. "These Sentinels will help you contain the Flood until your Constructs finish reprogramming the installation's firing subroutines." He seemed to look off in the distance. "There is a containment breach in Sector Seven. I must investigate this immediately."

Chief sighed. "Get ready for another wave."

Ben nodded, looked down at the Omnitrix, and activated his Elite transformation. With the transformation, Ben felt a new weapon in his left, formerly blaster, hand. Ben gave the weapon a swing, not sure how effective a handle would be against Flood. As Ben swung, a hiss sounded from the weapon and twin emerald blades leaped from the hilt. Ben almost dropped the weapon in his shock but held it in his grip. This weapon held too much meaning to just drop and discard. Why? The young man-turned-Sangheili could not say. Before he could ponder the odd connection further, a feral scream beat against his ears. "Here we go."

Chief looked at the transformed Tennyson and noted the energy sword in the Sangheili's hand. "I'll kill the Infection Forms…" Chief stowed the shotgun and rearmed his assault rifle. "…you manage the Combat Forms."

The Sangheili nodded and charged forward with the Chief. "Nothing will live to reach the control room!"

Between rapid fire and slashing at the bodies to destroy them before any stray Infection Forms could reanimate the dead, the SPARTAN and Ben made short work of the next wave of Flood.

"Hold, Spartan." Ben ordered when the last of the wave of Flood were dealt with. "Does it not seem strange to you?"

Chief looked at his ally. "What?"

"Spark, he vanishes; the Parasite appears." Ben shook his elongated, quad-mandible head. "It is too convenient."

The connection made an uneasy rock drop in the Chief's gut. "If he is setting us up to fail, he must be compromised in his initial functions."

"Exactly, but why would he be so…careless with the Halo and the only people in the vicinity that can fire it? I know hundreds of thousands of years of solitude must fracture the mind, but such a cause would only distort his primary directives, not overturn them to work with the Parasite."

"Ben," Gwen called from inside the Core as she listened to him and Chief discuss the Monitor's suspect behavior. "From what I can access of Forerunner data," she paused for a moment, and Ben could almost hear papers shifting around as Gwen sifted carefully through the Halo's data on the Flood. "There is something called the Logic Plague. It's a digital analog to biological Flood infection."

Ben nodded, "Yes, but?"

"The Logic Plague can only begin to affect AIs AFTER the formation of a Gravemind!"

Ben paused. "There is a Gravemind on this ring?!"

"Guilty Spark is protecting it." Gwen grumbled as she used Ben's external speakers to relay the talk to Chief. "While hiding behind 'protocols' and mandates; he flits about, hoping you will die."

Ben shivered. "Please tell me you're almost done with the reprogramming."

"By the time you receive this," Gwen promised. "Cortana and I will be done."

Ben nodded, deactivated the Omnitrix, and made a hand signal to Chief to retreat back to the control room. Chief only gave a slight nod in acknowledgement before the duo double-timed it back to their companions.

John felt fear in the back of his mind when Gwen talked about the Logic Plague. _Cortana hasn't been affected after hours in the data core with this thing around her?_

Before Chief could offload Cortana back into the chip, his eyes went back to the Omnitrix The faceplate flashed between yellow and white. "Tennyson, what is that thing doing?" Chief tensed and stood still, ready to fire on the Watch if necessary.

Responding to its bearer's mental confusion as Ben looked down to inspect the device, the Omnitrix answered. "Omnitrix is creating Unitrix core to house damaged AI with a genetic base provided by augmented Human." The faceplate popped up to triple its inactive height and ejected the new Unitrix core like a cassette tape. However, unlike the Eunice core, this one was royal blue.

"What did it just do?"

Ben walked over to the solder calmly. "Load Cortana onto her chip." Ben said gently. "Then, hand it to me."

"She is UNSC property!" Chief growled. "I can't."

Gwen sighed and materialized next to Ben. "Look. In her current state, she has six and a half years of operation, of life, left."

Ben put a hand on his armored right forearm. "You don't want to get to know her just to lose her." Ben seemed to grow distant as he spoke to the Chief. "It sucks."

Spark seemed to show up out of nowhere. "…or you could give me the Construct, and I could make the necessary repairs, Reclaimer."

Chief glared at Spark, reached back, loaded Cortana onto her chip, and gave it to Ben. "I don't trust a traitorous machine with her."

During the handoff, Spark tried to grab the chip in a tractor beam, but Ben grabbed the chip and slipped into a slot near the base of the Unitrix core. "Chief, you want to do the honors?"

Having watched Ben transform multiple times through the feed on the _Autumn_ and in person, John knew how this odd contraption should work and gently pushed down the top.

A bright flash of light temporarily blinded Gwen as the Unitrix did its work. In the core's place a moment later, a blue MJNIOR Mk V armor system lay prone on the floor in front of them. A feminine voice groaned from within the armor. Then, she rolled over and sat up.

"Chief…what hit us?" The woman asked as she looked at a shadow through her visor and put a hand on her helmet, disorientated.

"Cortana?" Chief asked as he dared to hope. "Cortana, can you hear me?!"

Cortana's vision cleared gradually, but her new ears continued to ring. "Not so loud, Chief!" She growled. "I'm in your head. Remember, Spartan?"

"The Construct, in an organic form?" Spark spluttered. "This is unacceptable!" His lone optic turned dangerously red.

"Cortana, look at me." Chief countered. He watched her body stiffen as realization hit.

"John?!"

"Move!" Chief commanded as he lifted the newly SPARTAN II Cortana, armor and all to her feet.

In a flash, Cortana and John dove away from each other just before a beam from the compromised Monitor hit them. Both rolled into a crouch on either side of Ben and Gwen.

Cortana looked at John, her face unreadable due to the gold mirrored visor. Her body language, on the other hand, stood plainly. Cortana shook slightly in her new body from the burst of adrenaline. This caused slight ripples under certain areas of Cortana's armor. Due to his augmented status, John could see these ripples of fear and anxiety. However, all hints of those emotions vanished when Cortana locked her eyes on Guilty Spark. "Shotgun…" John didn't argue and tossed the weapon to to Cortana as the Monitor looked at her quizzically as if he was unsure if she knew how to use the weapon or not.

Unfortunately for him, she did. Cortana glared at the Monitor and shot at his optic, but Spark's shields flared. "No shield is going to save you from me, you tin can!" She cocked another shell and fired.

"Why are you displeased?" Spark asked calmly as he stared at her in slight fear as his optic looked around nervously.

The newest SPARTAN-II looked quickly to her left at a fallen Combat Form and scooped up the plasma pistol in its hand. Once the pistol glowed brightly with overcharge, Cortana blasted Spark at close range. Then, quicker than the normal Human eye could track, Cortana unslung the shotgun from her back and emptied the magazine into the Monitor. Halfway through, the Monitor dropped like a rock, his optic pink instead of blood red due to the damage Cortana inflicted.

Ben raised an eyebrow and looked at Gwen with slight fear at the display of rage. She put a hand on Ben's shoulder. _Watch._

As Cortana put the shotgun in a holstered position on the magnetic plate on her back, her hands began to shake. "He almost made you kill all life in the galaxy." The former AI said softly. "He almost…" _…cost me you._ She didn't say it. For with a SPARTAN, actions spoke louder than words ever could.

Chief reached up and, with surprising care and gentleness, lifted the helmet off her head to reveal jet black locks and the same piercing blue eyes of her former AI self. "Hello, Cortana."

Cortana looked around in shock. "Th-this isn't just a suit?"

Chief smiled under his visor. "No, it's not."

Cortana's eyes grew wide and wet with happy tears. "How?!"

"The Omnitrix was able to give you your own body." Ben supplied. "Be careful though. On the back of her head near the neck, there's a button. Never press it."

Cortana gave Ben an odd look. "Why?"

"Trust me."

Chief nodded and looked at the controls. "Are the others updated, too?"

Gwen nodded.

Chief frowned and started up the firing sequence. "After this, everything is going to change."

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	9. Eight: Aftershocks

Chapter Eight: Aftershocks

032 Mendicant Bias would have sighed had the AI had the function in his current state onboard the Forerunner ship _Anodyne Spirit_. **I did not make this name up. The ship has that name in Halo's canon.** These poor fools thought they were "prophets" who bore messages imbued on them by his Forerunner makers. Bias took over the pathetic security systems of their city they called "High Charity", saw a San'Shyuum newly announced as the Prophet of Regret, and followed the creature as he made a path for the AI. Bias braced himself for the sentient's nigh rampant babbling about the supposed Great Journey.

"What is your message, Greatest Oracle?" Regret asked with a look of anger in his face.

"I have told you before, and I tell you again." Bias showed agitation in his tone. "You misinterpret my Maker's intent!"

Regret glared at him. "The Great Journey will be fulfilled. The Covenant SHALL NOT FALTER!"

Bias prepared to spar words with this idiot. (Such matches were as close to entertainment as the AI received in recent time.) However, The Contender Class AI's retort never came as Bias' subroutine charged with communicating with the Fortress World Network alerted the AI to more important matters. The subroutine guided Bias to Installation 04. For an tenth of a second, Bias pulled up the records of the Monitor there and noticed Guilty Spark had yet to file a maintenance report with the Ark for the current solar cycle. That was most unfortunate, but oddly, Installation 04 broadcast a firing signal without Spark's approval. Another quarter of a second and Bias broadcasted a tachyon burst message to the Ancilla on 04 not registered as a Monitor but as a Guardian Class Protectorate Ancilla. _Guardian Class?_ Bias' internal processes questioned. _Those were only assigned to VIP Life-workers._

Part of Bias' processes alerted him to the annoying San'Shyuum who still waited for an answer from him. Bias expressed amusement as he spoke. "You will regret your foolishness, Organic. The Halo, as you call it, has fired." Bias watched the terror and shock wash across Regret's face from the room's feeds with something akin to satisfaction.

"Once the Covenant learn of this…"

Bias answered him in a cold and calculating manner with the goal of terrifying the being into leaving him alone to investigate this new development on Fortress World 04. "You will indeed be freed from your mortal coil…violently."

Gwen turned to leave the control room of Alpha Halo and took a step only to feel something hit her and knock her back. As she stood, Gwen felt the discomfort lessen until she could focus once again enough to control the energy surge coming into her mind. Once Gwen opened her eyes, they were completely the color of her Mana. In this blue field that covered her eyes, the redhead saw a form come out of the blue haze that reminded her of a "V" with two glowing circles on the tips and another glowing circle at the apex of the lines. This presence felt a bit like Guilty Spark but held an air of power the annoying Monitor could never possess. **_Who are you?_**

 ** _My designation is 032 Mendicant Bias._** The AI responded. **_My Makers put me in charge of a defense plan against the Flood. To that end, I must inquire as to who fired Fortress World 04?_**

 ** _A Reclaimer…_** Gwen responded, hesitant to give too much data to this strange AI. **_343 Guilty Spark became subject to the Logic Plague, so I had to take steps to counter him._** Gwen explained. **_With some assistance from a Human Construct, I was able to reprogram the Fortress Worlds to destroy only the Flood._**

 ** _You were able to destroy the Flood at a cellular level?!_** Bias was stunned. Forerunner Life-workers and Warrior-Servants fought with the Flood for 300 years without any gains and, desperate to win, created and fired the Fortress World Network to starve the Flood in an attrition gambit. However, this Protectorate Ancilla was able to accomplish what 300 years of fighting by his Makers could not.

 ** _Truth-of-Falling-Star, the one I was charged with protecting, should be credited with the solution._** Gwen explained. **_Without his intervention, the direct destruction of the Flood wouldn't be possible._**

Bias processed this new information to his satisfaction and said, **_You and he did what hundreds of years and uncountable sentients fighting couldn't._**

Gwen sighed and a small smile pulled at her lips. **_Ben and I get that a lot._**

Bias would have smiled at the news of the reprogrammed Fortress Worlds, but he had a fanatic to distract if he could. Dissuading this Regret would not be likely, but he had to try.

"A Halo, as you call them, has been fired." Bias announced as he pulled up a map of the Fortress Worlds around the galaxy and indicated 04. "I do not lie to you, Regret. Your 'Great Journey' seems to have started without you."

Regret's fear turned to rage. "I will quell this heresy MYSELF!"

With the "High Prophet" thoroughly blinded by his own foolishness, Bias actually felt a moment of pity for the reckless being who would undoubtedly face his own death soon. Bias decided to give a message of warning to the Protectorate Ancilla. **_Be warned, Protectorate._** He told her. **_You have the rage of a "prophet" to contend with soon._**

Gwen nodded unconsciously at the message from Bias and ran up to meet the group. They were almost back out in the snow-covered exterior of the control room when Gwen caught up to the others. _How long was I talking with Bias?_

About fifteen meters ahead of her, Ben conferred with Cortana and Chief. As the Omnitrix Bearer turned to go back, he spotted Gwen and sprinted back to her. "Where were you?" Ben asked in worry. "You went into a trance. Chief and Cortana tried to convince me you were fine, but after forty-five minutes, I had to go back and get you!"

Gwen looked at Ben in confusion. "I was only in the control room for a few minutes after you, Chief, and Cortana left." Gwen shook her head and ran up to the two SPARTANS. "That's not important right now, Ben."

She turned to the armored pair and felt energy course through her body in tandem with her worry. "We've got a lot of company coming." Gwen told them. "There's an ancient Forerunner AI at the core of the Covenant capital who says we pissed off a Covie leader when we fired the ring." Gwen told them. "Cortana, can you and Chief gather UNSC personnel for a ground defensive around the control room?"

"Yes," Chief began.

"Without orbital support, the enemy could rain troops down and easily overrun our positions."

Gwen nodded at Cortana. "I understand your concern, Cortana, but Ben can provide the orbital defense."

Ben looked at Gwen like she was crazy. "I'm not going back up to Thel's Fleet if I can help it."

"Not even if I go with you?" Gwen asked before she sucked him with a damned pout. With Ben sufficiently distracted; Gwen kissed her boyfriend deeply, converted her body into a data matrix, and vanished into the AI support crystal lattice in his suit. "Ben, cult fanatics or not, that fleet is our best chance of thinning the ranks of troops the enemy can drop on Cortana and Chief's ground position."

Ben groaned. "You know? I really hate it when you're right." Ben could almost see Gwen smirking triumphantly in the back of his mind.

"Well, you have choice, Doofus." Gwen growled. "Power through this assault on your own and watch the SPARTANS and marines get stomped, or use Thel's men and ships to delay Regret's Fleet. It's our best chance of defending the control room from the lunatic on his way here!"

"The things I do for you, Dweeb."

With the argument over, Ben keyed his comm and spoke to Thel. "Your Fleet is needed for my service, Fleet Master."

"(I'll send a Phantom to pick you up, Great One.)" Thel promised. "(Any other assistances you need?)"

Ben looked over and spotted a Banshee a few meters from the door. _Can you fly that thing to Thel's ship?_

Gwen laughed after she took a fraction of a second to scan the vehicle. "…in my sleep, Dweeb. Come on! _"_

Ben nodded and ran over to the oddly shaped aircraft. Ben reluctantly laid down as the hatch closed over him. To Thel he said, "Belay that EVAC request. I will meet the ship in a Banshee." Ben told the Fleet Master. "I will land in Bay Seven. Meet me there. We have much to discuss."

Thel's voice rattled through Ben's comm. "(Why the urgent tone, Great One?)"

"We must prepare for glorious battle, Thel 'Vadam."

Thel walked to Bay Seven and looked out the shielded bay hatch. The Sangheili Fleet Master had seen many things in his time, but few brought the hardened veteran laugher unlike the scene before him now. It seemed the Great One and his female companion fought over how to land the craft they were flying in.

"Pull up, Dweeb." The male said. "We're flying too low!"

"Who knows this Banshee like the back of her hand, Doofus?!" The female retorted even as the Banshee bobbed in and out of Thel's view. "I do. No one likes a backseat driver!"

When the Banshee in question finally came to rest inside the bay, the hatch opened, and Thel found himself momentarily confused when only the Great One disembarked.

"(Where is the other Human?)"

Gwen sighed and reconstituted her body until she stood next to Ben. "There wasn't room for both of us in the craft, so I had to ride in the suit."

Thel nodded, still not quite used to hearing Sangheili when the Humans spoke. "(What can I provide for you, Holy One?)"

Ben tensed unconsciously at that moniker. "Great One", he could cope with, but "Holy One" was a bit too much. "First, don't call me 'Holy One' again."

Thel gave a surprised look but nodded in affirmation. "(As you command…)"

"Second, we need to prepare the fleet for battle. The one you call 'Prophet of Regret' intends to land and reignite the Ring."

Thel looked at Ben in shock. "(You incurred the wrath of a Hierarch?!)" Thel looked at Ben and Gwen in confusion as their mouths turned up and showed what the Sangheili assumed were human teeth. The expression made Thel nervous, but he would never voice such concerns.

The Great One answered the Fleet Master while the strange expression never left his or the female's face. "When you're us," Ben explained. "Pissing off tyrants is a normal and comes with the territory."

"This isn't even the first time Ben angered a cult."

Ben shivered. "I still can't look at a tick."

Thel found himself feeling relieved when the Human faces turned back to normal. "(I do not understand your lust for suicide.)"

"It's not suicide;" Ben said with a shake of his head. "It's heroics."

"There's a difference." Gwen added calmly.

Back on the Ring World, Cortana and Chief worked together to gather up a fighting force. Most of the marines were overjoyed to see the SPARTANS. As usual, Cortana did most of the explaining while she and John worked to build the defenses with captured Shades, Banshees, Ghosts, and even a Wraith. The defensive preparations went smoothly for the most part. Some of the marines wanted Cortana to shed her armor for one purpose. John quickly set the poor saps straight and had to explain to the former AI, who had no instilled ideals of modesty due to her life up until recently as a sentient collection of code, the importance of her armor and clothing.

The chat and John's reaction to the marines' "request" started a rumor among the men that the two SPARTANS were a couple.

Then, Cortana picked up an ODST beacon at an outpost designated "Alpha Base" For a moment, she considered not telling John. After all, a satellite position provided by the ODST basecamp would distract the Covenant force and cut down the number of ground troops at the control room. However, the ODSTs' best would only delay the Covenant. Add to that John's unfortunate incident with ODSTs right after his augmentations at fourteen, and this recruitment effort would be difficult.

"John, we could use the ODSTs at Alpha Base." Cortana watched her soldier stand up straight at the suggestion. "I'll radio ahead and run the ground defense by the field commander of that unit."

"Major Antonio Silva…" Chief answered. "We've met."

Cortana sighed. "I know he's an asshole with a grudge against SPARTANS, particularly you." _Due to his wounded pride when you manhandled his ODSTs like they were first day recruits._ "…but you have to trust me, John."

John nodded. "Call him."

Cortana smiled under her visor. She knew enough about psychology and Antonio Silva from viewing personnel files while she was board in Slipspace aboard the _Autumn_. The glory hound in Major Silva would be happily licking her boots by the time he and his men rendezvoused with them. The former AI would make sure of that.

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	10. Nine: Resentment and Regret

Chapter Nine: Resentment and Regret

Cortana looked at John as he helped the troops ready the defenses. She'd never left John before now, and the thought made her uneasy. John was the best soldier Halsey ever produced. (Cortana was not bias; his service record proved it.) However, there was always the possibility something could go wrong. Cortana set a stern look on her face and shook her head. _Think like a SPARTAN!_ Cortana ordered herself. _You can be with John and relax when this is over, not before!_ Cortana looked towards an unoccupied Banshee and smiled. Quickly, the former AI laid down in the craft and began to pilot it toward Alpha Base.

As Cortana flew away from the control room, a voice rolled through her comm. "Complete you're mission, Cortana." The voice brought an unconscious soft smile to the woman's face. "I'll be on comms."

Cortana gave a slight nod and made a heading for Alpha Base. By listening to chatter between the ODSTs when Chief wasn't using it while she was an AI, Cortana knew where to go and quickly made her way there.

As she flew over the landscape of the Halo, Cortana couldn't help but marvel at the beauty that belied the true horror hidden within the ring. _For such an advanced race,_ the woman thought. _Forerunners were amazingly lacking in the common sense department. Sure. Keep the the virulent parasite on the Halos designed to stop the infection._ Cortanasighed and shook her head. _When added to the fact that the disease can become sentient with enough biomass and time, it becomes blatantly apparent how stupid the Halo designs are._

Cortana shook the aggravating thoughts away and turned her attention to her story to tell the major when she arrived. With some difficulty, Cortana looked over the data on her SPARTAN Neural Interface for a starting point. _SPARTAN-157…and a "friendly" indicator are the only bits of data on the interface._ The fiendish part of Cortana smiled at this information. _I could pose as an ONI agent._ Cortana quickly batted that idea down. _If I did that, it could mean trouble for me and possibly John._ After a moment more of thought, the SPARTAN took a different approach. _Truth would be the best course._ She reasoned. _If I have to, I can fight the major._ _Who would believe him anyway ?_ She laughed. _All UNSC records indicate I'm still an AI._

"This is going to be fun." Cortana said as she landed on the roof of Alpha Base, dismounted, and began her decent into the main compound.

"Sir, an unfamiliar UNSC tag just landed on the pad up top." The man in marine battle uniform.

Major Antonio Silva nodded to the marine and stood up before he reloaded his MA5B and took the weapon to ready position. _I can't take any chances in hostile territory._ With slow, purposeful movement; the major made his way to the top only to stop when he saw a SPARTAN in blue armor instead of Sierra-117's green. _That's not the Chief…_ Silva tensed. _I thought he was the last of those failed experiments!_ "If you pose a threat to my men, I won't hesitate to gun you down like a Covie." He warned the…thing. "You're all freaks regardless!"

Cortana put up her hands. "Calm down trooper." She said gently. "I'm going to remove my helmet." Slowly, Cortana reached for the pressure seals and triggered them with a light hiss. As she put the helmet under her arm, the woman offered Silva a hand. "Cortana-157, sir."

Silva recognized the name immediately. "Cortana…" His eyes went wide. "You're the _Autumn_ 's AI!" Silva's mind raced. _How the HELL did this happen?!_ His face began to lose color while his assault rifle began to rattle in his shaking hands. "Stay back!"

"I know what happened years ago, Silva." Cortana said calmly. "ONI can't hide from everyone."

Silva's eyes widened a hair more. "You're…!"

Cortana shook her head. "I'm not a Spook." She sighed. "My…Mom just made sure I could hack my way just about anywhere." The woman sat on her heels. This took a good quarter meter off her height and brought her eye level to Silva who still stood. "Nobody knew how the ODSTs would fair when put up against Chief at the time. Everyone had some idea of what would happen. The civi head of the project thought 117 would only incapacitate the men, for example."

"That doesn't change the fact two of my men lost their lives to that freak!" Silva growled as she threw a punch at her.

Cortana stopped to punch with the palm of her left hand and looked at a marine in the doorway behind the major. "Is there a sparring ring in this base?"

The marine shook his head. "No ma'am."

Cortana nodded. "Let's take this outside, then."

Silva looked at Cortana in fear as the woman nodded to him. "W-What are you doing?"

Cortana turned her head towards Silva with an irritated expression. "You have a grudge against John." She looked him in the eyes. "We have an inbound Covie invasion force and will need every man we can muster to keep those bastards back." Cortana growled. "Grudges in battle get men killed." The SPARTAN's blue eyes blazed into Silva's soul. "I will not risk John's life because you can't accept the fact your men were victims of manslaughter not murder."

Silva seemed shocked by this. "What do you intend to do about it, machine?!"

"Hit me." Cortana said simply, choosing to ignore the "machine" moniker.

Silva smirked, but the expression changed to a murderous snarl a moment later when Silva roared and ran at her. His punches hit only air as even untrained Cortana could easily dodge his strikes with her augmented reflexes and speed. "Stand still!"

Cortana looked at him and spoke as she passively continued to dodge the punches from Silva. "Elites are fast enough to get the jump on a SPARTAN." Cortana told him. "If I can dodge your strikes so easily, an Elite can turn you to paste, Major Silva. That's why Humanity needs SPARTANS."

Silva shivered. "I…understand." Then, the man glared at Cortana. "…but what do you tell the families of the men that died in a fucking training drill thanks to some kid?!"

"They died as men in service to the UNSC, Silva." Cortana told him as he placed her gauntlets right hand a hair's breadth from the man's shoulder. "They died senselessly, yes; but they died heroes, Major Silva."

The man glared at her. "Why are you here?" Silva looked at her. "You can't be here to be my personal shrink."

Cortana nodded and put her helmet back on. "The Covenant are amassing a strike force to take the ring." Cortana looked at Silva and offered him her gloved hand. "We need every soldier we can muster for a reaction force." Cortana smirked under her helmet. "Without you and your ODSTs, we could loose the Halo."

Silva looked at her. "So we loose a giant hoop. So what?"

Cortana sighed and withdrew her hand. _Prideful, glory-sniffing…_ Cortana stopped the thought and glared at Silva hard enough through her visor to make him flinch. "Humanity is fucked." Cortana growled. "The Halo was originally designed to purge the galaxy of life." The SPARTAN stood centimeters from the major's face. "The Covenant plan to turn the activation key to this thing on in the name of their 'Great Journey'." Cortana shook her head and turned her back to Silva. "All the glory in the universe won't save Humanity from annihilation if you let them fire that ring." Cortana had one last play. _I hope this gets to him._

Silva paled. "Me?!"

Cortana fought a laugh and turned to face him with a curt nod. The woman had him by the balls now. "You will go down in the digital logs left by Humanity as the man who doomed us."

Silva gulped. "I would never…"

"You would dishonor every soldier who died for Humanity against these bastards and be remembered by those logs as a traitor." After Cortana gave that a moment to sink in, Silva's face contorted in one desperate glare of defiance. "This war will be won by Humans, not freaks like you and 117!"

Cortana looked at him. "This is for Human survival, Silva. SPARTAN, ODST, marine, civilian…the Covenant bastards don't care." Cortona frowned. "Humanity will win this but only if you grow up and start thinking of duty before a petty sense of vengeance or vendetta."

Silva glared at her in response before he flinched and held the back of his head. "What was that?"

Cortana turned back to him as she reached her Banshee. "That was the coordinates for the rally point set up near the control room." Cortana turned to the Banshee. "Make your choice, Major Silva. As for me, I have to go back to John and the men preparing for battle." With her piece said, Cortana started the Banshee and flew back to the gathering army at the control room.

Silva watched the Banshee depart and heard the whining roar of the engines fade as it flew away. "She's right." He muttered, the slam to his pride unbearable. Silva shivered. He'd rather take a full minute of rounds from a Warthog chain-gun than another thorough dressing down from Cortana. The man watched as the Banshee became a speck in the Ringworld's sky. Then, Silva allowed his shoulders to drop as the ODST commander considered what Cortana told him while the major made his way to his impromptu office. Once there, the ghost of a smile placed itself on Silva's face. _I applaud Chief for dealing with her in his head for as long as he did._ Silva had nothing but respect for a man who could handle a woman as fierce as Cortana and come out smelling like roses. In fact, Silva figured if the Chief truly was Human, he would "tap that" soon.

 _What the hell?!_ Silva thought in shock when he realized where his brain went. To distract himself, the Major turned his attention to the impending battle Cortana briefed him on. "Wellesley," the base commander called to the "dumb" AI that served as his tactical assistant. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Well, Major," Wellesley began. "When facing an unknown enemy, it is best to have as many of the best fighting men you can in your forces." The AI rubbed his avatar chin with his right hand. "Cortana was right in many respects. Must I bring to mind why feudal kingdoms were usually weak?"

Silva eyed the AI with a look of mild irritation. "You're going to tell me anyway."

Wellesley took that as a cue to continue and placed his avatar's hands behind its back. "Nobles who squabbled for land and tittle instead of fighting for their king as they should have severely hurt kingdom strength." Wellesley stated. "You are behaving like such a noble when your ultimate loyalty should be to the UNSC and Humanity." Wellesley shook his head. "Chose your battle, Major." With that, Wellesley's avatar vanished.

After a few moments of thought, Silva growled in frustration. The AIs were right. He could either keep his grudge and possibly be remembered as "the man who doomed Humanity", or he and his men could assist in the holding action of the control room. Silva's ego made the choice effortless.

Over the ODST radio frequency, Silva barked an order. "All available personnel, return to Alpha Base and mount up. We are meeting a gathering UNSC forces to provide asset denial support to keep the Covies from getting their alien mitts on some badass weapon. WE WIPE THOSE FUCKERS CLEAN OFF THIS WORLD OR TAKE AS MANY AS WE CAN WITH US!"

"Yes, sir!"

On her way back to John, Cortana grinned. She knew Silva's hubris wouldn't let him turn his back on the men, not when any shred of glory could be had out of the battle. Cortana keyed up Chief's frequency. "Silva and his men are in route. ETA: two hours."

Chief answered almost instantly. "Captain Keyes has been recovered, Cortana." The Chief hesitated for a moment. "However, since I briefed him on your and Gwen's plan; the captain is no longer top brass. Ben, as acting Fleet Admiral, is."

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	11. Ten: Idle Hands and Racing Minds

**Author's Note: 1)** There are nods to the Lanterns of DC and the TRON franchise in this chapter. I don't own either of them. **2)** This is my first conscious attempt at a "slow" chapter. How'd I do?

Chapter Ten: Idle Hands and Racing Minds

Ben and Gwen looked around the vehicle bay for a moment. Ben took note of a few strange "winged" ground vehicles and smiled. They reminded Ben of sturdier and armed version of his hoverboard he received as a gift from Tetrax. Then, Ben saw a large beast of a vehicle, metallic purple like most everything of the ship. Something in Ben told him the larger craft was likely the Covenant analog to a Human tank while the smaller vehicle had no Human counterpart he could think of to match it in form or function. A hand on his shoulder drew Ben's thoughts away from the strange armament of alien vehicles in the bay around him and Gwen.

"Stop staring at the new toys, Ben." Gwen admonished as the redhead frowned and looked at him. "We need to talk."

At his girlfriend's words, Ben looked at Thel calmly. "Is there a training or sparring room on board?"

The large saurian alien looked at Ben in confusion. "(Yes, but our facilities may be…awkward for you due to your much smaller bodies.)"

"Can you show us where they are?" Gwen asked. "Ben and I tend to relax when we spar."

Thel clicked his mandibles sharply in surprise. _(The past few cycles were most likely stressful for the Great One and his mate.)_ Thel thought to himself. _(Perhaps mating is particularly aggressive for Humans…if how protective these are of each other is any indication.)_ Then, the Fleet Master closed his lower pair of jaws in a Sangeili smile. "(I see.)" The Elite said with a gleam in his eyes. "(Once you find a combat training room, I will make sure you are not disturbed, Ben Tennyson.)"

With that uncomfortable tone and statement still hanging in the air, Thel led the duo to a large spacious room where warriors engaged in grappling and sparring matches with each other, The warriors eyed the Humans in confusion then anger until Thel said something to the men about "(mates)" and "(right of warriors)". Something instantly changed in the men once Thel barked at his order. Looks of anger and disgust evaporated into ones of begrudging respect and more than a few looks of what Gwen could only assume was amusement on the aliens' faces as they looked at her. The men gave Ben a respectful bow one by one and seemed to smile at the pair right before they walked out of the room.

Something about this whole situation struck the duo as strange, but Ben only shrugged. "It's probably a respect thing."

Ben and Gwen looked at each other for a moment. Then, Ben shed his Combat Skin and rolled his shoulders. "I don't see how Chief can live in his armor." Ben complained. "I understand he stays battle-ready almost 24, but the guy needs sleep outside of a cryopod at times."

Gwen laughed and went into her fighting stance. "You could say you were in emotional cryostasis since we were ten, so you have no room to talk"

Ben dodged her punch and kicked at her in response. "Can you blame me?" Ben asked as a little bit of his pain and anger bled into his attacks and made his attempted blows come faster with a little more force. "After Xenon, I put myself into a state of emotional suspended animation to protect myself from the pain and fear of Xenon and my budding but stunted feelings for you." Ben growled as he used Gwen's momentum in her punch to pull her centimeters from his face. "Every time I would try to 'thaw' with Julie or someone else, the pain and fear would come back." Ben sighed. "Like a coward, I would let myself fall back into the familiar emotional numbness."

Gwen saw the tears ion Ben's eyes while she was so close to him and wiped the tears from his face with a gentle finger. "You Doofus," Gwen said softly as her own voice shook with barely contained emotions. "We're both incredibly stubborn." Gwen told him with a nervous laugh. "It took us being flung into an alternate universe to come to terms with our feelings."

Ben's strikes became faster and more focused as the pair continued to fight. Flashes of missed opportunities ran though the young man's mind as he continued to fight. _Gwen walked up to him and Kevin tiredly with purple-black star marks all over her body from Michael Morningstar's feedings._ A fierce left hook and cry of anguish erupted from Ben.

 _"That's enough, Kevin!" In response, the monster Kevin was drained a little more of Gwen as she screamed in pain._ Ben's eyes glowed with powerful green energy, and his fists began to spark with and glow in the brightness of Ben's Mana.

A more recent failure came to his mind. _Gwen's scream as an Infection Form began to corrupt her._ With a roar Ben slammed his energized fist into the deck plate. A booming shockwave erupted from the impact and rattled the ship while a few electrical devices along the wall shorted out and sparked due to the localized EMP effect of the energy burst. Ben's heavy breathing brought him out to the memory to see Gwen's face looking at him in worry.

In the ship's bridge, the crew and Thel suddenly rocked for a few moments as a loud resound from metal echoed through the ship. _(Maybe letting the Humans relieve their stress wasn't such a good idea.)_ Thel thought. _(If they…)_ The Fleet Master shook his head, dismissed the thought, and chuckled as he remembered himself and his wife when they were young. _(Juvenile passions must always be somewhat aggressive, no matter the race.)_

"Ben," Gwen said as she put a hand on his shoulder as he heaved down air and cried softly in his emotional breakdown. Gwen gently put a hand on his shivering shoulder and looked at him before she called him again. "Talk to me, Ben."

"I wasn't strong enough." Ben said as he looked up into her eyes. "I wasn't strong enough to save you from Xenon, Michael, Kevin, or the Flood." Ben whispered. "I've never been strong enough as Humanune or Forerunner." Ben shivered. "I'm still too weak to save you!"

Gwen glared at him. "Benjamin Tennyson, don't you dare talk like that!" Gwen said before she took his face in her hands and made him look her in the eyes. "Do you know who saved us on Xenon? Who kicked Darkstar's ass? Who returned Kevin to Human? Who destroyed the Flood once and for all?" Gwen didn't wait for him to answer. "We did it all, Ben, together."

Ben smiled and nodded slowly at her words. "Thank you, Gwen." Ben said before he smiled and kissed her softly. "I needed that."

"We both did." Gwen said in agreement. "Quite a lot has happened in the last few days."

"Somehow, I always knew." Ben said slowly. "I've always been different." Ben said with a slight frown. "I thought it was just me, but when I got the Omnitrix, I started to long for space. Earth no longer felt like home." Ben sighed. "I think that's when it began to sink in." He told her. "I all but knew I wasn't Human. There was just one problem: There was no evidence in my genetics or the Omnitrix of who my people might be. Then, I come here and meet an alien who is apparently my Mom and is known as the Librarian." Ben smiled and laughed softly. "She even gave me the Forerunner armor."

Gwen's words flowed to him calmly as she nodded in agreement and sat on the deck next to him. "It also explains why we grew on each other so easily and my more cerebral behavior when we were kids."

"Yeah…" Ben said a sigh as he looked at her. "…who would have thought of you as a biological-digital hybrid?"

Gwen shivered and squeezed his hand. "I'm still not used to it."

Ben smiled comfortingly. "You weren't that used to Magic either when you first started." He laughed and looked at her as his emerald eyes twinkled with mirth. "There were mishaps and mistakes, sure; but you owned it and became even more badass than before." Ben shrugged. "You're like the people in that old movie."

Gwen looked at the young man in indignant aggravation. "I'm a User, Ben, not a Program." Gwen said with a flat look.

Ben shook his head. "I don't know about that, maybe an ISO." He laughed.

Gwen just gave him a glare. "A what?"

"An ISO: Isomorphic Algorithm, they were unique Programs that behaved like a mix of User and Program."

Gwen sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder about your sanity, Doofus."

"Think what you will, Gwen." Ben said with a small smile. "Don't come crying to me when CLU comes to hunt you down."

Gwen raised an eyebrow and shook her head with a nervous laugh. "I know who and what I am, Truth-of-Falling-Star."

Ben froze at the name with which the Librarian addressed him. "What?"

"I-I don't know…" Gwen said as she scanned the Mana in the room and smiled softly. "That mana burst…" Gwen said calmly. "I think the Librarian tagged your Mana when she gave you the suit. It would make it easier to track you and know where you are while we're in battle."

Ben had a thought as he looked over at the sparking equipment. "Gwen, could a large-scale burst short out a starship and render it 'dead in the water'?"

Gwen's eyes widened. "Ben, that's suicide!" She growled. "Mages aren't Lanterns!" Gwen told him. "The energy we can use is limited to our own reserves if we are in space somehow with no other source from which to draw." Gwen explained. "Trying to short out a flagship would kill me!"

Ben's eyes widened in horror. "That's definitely out." Ben blinked as something occurred to him. Then, he got up and began to pace. "Why could I only use Mana outside my armor?"

"Your suit's most likely designed to feed off of it." Gwen said as she gave the armor a look as it leaned against the wall inert. "That would make the most sense especially considering Forerunners' mastery of Mana manipulation by Lifeworkers."

To test her theory, Gwen focused her Mana and walked over to the suit. When she touched it, the suit sent her flying back into the far wall with an energy pulse. The pulse locked up her body. Gwen wanted to scream in panic as she sailed across the room, but every nerve in her body had her muscles locked up as the energy coursed through her. When the energy disappeared out of her body, Gwen just groaned. "It has a defensive lockout mechanism, just like the Omnitrix." Gwen looked over at Ben who had a slight smile on his face and slowly rose to her feet. "Unlike the Omnitrix, it's keyed to your Mana signature."

Ben walked over with a chuckle after he knew she was ok but before he answered her. When Ben did open his mouth, his words dripped with sarcasm. "No, Dweeb, you just discovered a brand new flying technique."

Gwen shook her head at the brunette and punched him in the arm before she got up. "It still would have been nice to know beforehand."

Ben sighed. "Look at the bright side, Gwen: free flying lessons."

"I would like to not be helpless while learning to fly, Ben." Gwen paled. "You try relaxing while your body rejects every command you give it!" As she spoke, Gwen clutched Ben tightly.

Ben's face turned serious when he heard the panic in Gwen's voice and felt her grip on him change. In response to Ben's heightened stress, his armor coated his body without his knowledge. Ben was too distracted by Gwen to notice. Gwen sounded too much like her panic attack in the cryobay. "I'm right here, Gwen." The Omnitrix Bearer pulled Gwen close. "We're both here together and safe." His voice remained low and comforting. To himself, Ben sounded stupid, like he was talking to a scared child and not his badass cousin/girlfriend. Gwen seemed to drink in Ben's comfort in spite of his thoughts to the contrary and snuggled deeper into his chest with a relaxed and contented sigh. Holding Gwen, tiredness seized Ben as his mind slowed down in her proximity. Light breathing brought Ben's attention to his shoulder. Gwen fell asleep standing up! The sight made Ben grin in spite of himself. _Damn, she's cute even when she doesn't intend to be._ Gently as to not wake her, Ben shifted so he carried Gwen with her body across his arms like a bride and walked out of the training room.

One Sangheili Major looked over, saw the pair as they left the room, and motioned for Ben to follow him. The soldier shook his head with what sounded like a quiet laugh as he led Ben onward. Then, the alien stopped at a door and quietly spoke. "(Here are your temporary quarters.)" The Sangheili's mandibles formed a grin as he looked at the sleeping female. "(You've treated her well.)" He said. "(Now, rest.)"

Ben wanted to correct the soldier but thought better of it. " _Thank you._ " He said with nod. " _Leave us._ "

The Sangheili bowed and left.

Ben sighed. For a moment, he wondered what chaos had just been unleashed on the ship in the form of this scuttlebutt. Then, Ben dismissed the thought and disengaged his armor after he laid Gwen on the bed. Then, Ben quietly joined her and found himself fast asleep almost as soon as his head hit the strange "pillow".

 **Please Read and Review.**


	12. Eleven: No Regrets

Chapter Eleven: No Regrets

The Prophet of Regret paced in his quarters on his fleet's flagship _Solemn Penance_. The San'Shyuum made circuits around his room in confusion and rage, using the discomfort of actually walking to keep his mind focused. "This…this heresy must be stamped out!" He grumbled. "The Great Journey will not be denied." Muttering to himself, Regret's thoughts drifted to reports from spies within the Fleet of Particular Justice. Sangheili swore they were besieged and captured by a Forerunner who exposed the Prophets as liars and fools. Regret's fist clinched in anger at this. The Forerunners took their Journey eons ago. _This pretender has to be silenced!_ Regret thought _,Only the Prophets may speak for them!_ The alien let out a very undignified snarl before he climbed back in his gravity throne and began to make his way to the bridge to check on progress to the Holy Ring. The San'Shyuum felt a smirk pull at his lips while the throne moved along the halls with a barely audible hum. _The Demon and this Hieratic shall die by my hand!_

Meanwhile, back near the Control Room choke point the men created, John ran. He wasn't running from anything. The SPARTAN was just that bored! Being able to react with a threefold better time than average, John lived his life in a constant state of overclock. Unfortunately, that meant idleness didn't sit well with John or any other SPARTAN for that matter. Waiting for shit to hit the fan was always the worst part of any soldier's duty: the tension, the fear, and uncertainty. This was no different for John. In fact, some could say it was worse for him, but at that moment, John thanked his training CO Mendez for teaching him and the other SPARTANs how to manage their natural hyperactivity. Rigorous PT and mental exercises were the CO's answers to their new "bouncy" behaviors after augmentation, and they worked well to manage the situation. To that end, John ran laps around the complex and unconsciously checked statuses of gun placements, vehicles, and men.

Then, with that done, John's mind sought out another distraction from the boredom. The distraction he searched for came to him in the form of familiar yet slightly lighter footsteps in inhumanly rapid succession behind him. _Cortana…_ His mind identified unconsciously. The thought of the woman sharing in his hatred of boredom made John crack a slight smile. Though her roots for that quirk in her personality stemmed from her past as an AI when she could do trillions of calculations a second instead of altered neural mechanics as in John's case, the man found comfort in his kinship with her over this shared experience.

 _What is she to me?_ John thought as Cortana ran past him. The thought surprised John. It wasn't a thought he expected to come about when he noticed her or was in the middle of PT. While his body kept his legs moving, John put more thought to the question. His first and perhaps ingrained answer was "fellow soldier". However, that did and at the same time didn't fit because, while Cortana was an amazing warrior on the digital battlefield, until recently she had no true physical form. His next answer came a little slower: "friend". This seemed to fit until John looked ahead of him and truthfully studied Cortana in her armor. The sleek design of her armor variant contrasted greatly with his more utility-minded armor. The armor actually had a feminine profile to it with curves and a slimmer form. _Probably thanks to the Omnitrix generating it rather than Halsey._ John thought. These curves gracefully followed Cortana's own presumed curves so tightly. John briefly found his mind clouded with pictures of her being poured into the armor. Then, for a second, the armor vanished and left Cortana looking like her hologram with full flesh tones and DEFINITELY a woman's anatomy.

John froze, training and mind at war. _What the Hell?!_

Cortana heard John's footfalls behind her stop and looked back to see him motionless. A twinge of worry passed through Cortana before she quickly checked Chief's vitals through her suit's software link to that portion of his neural interface. Everything seemed to be spiking. Cortana shivered as she ran back to John. Though her knowledge of medical emergencies was not at the level of say a doctor, Cortana felt confident enough to give emergency aid if needed. The readout of John's vitals pointed to one of two options: a flashback or a panic attack. Cortana monetarily cursed her lack of access to John's brainwaves. _If I had those, I could tell which and act accordingly!_

Without that access, Cortana knew the only way to find out what was wrong would be if John told her. "John, talk to me."

When he didn't respond, the woman gently lifted John's helmet off his head; her heart hammering with worry, fear, and a third emotion she knew but didn't experience as Humans did before.

Cortana couldn't help a gasp at the sight before her as she laid the helmet gently in the snow next to her.

John's jet black hair was "styled" in a buzzcut. His face looked unnaturally white from what could have been years without sunlight. His overall appearance held the look of a man half his age. However, the most striking thing about John was his eyes. Pools of blue seas, stormy with years of combat looked at her. Cortana looked into those eyes with wonder and a bit of fear. Then, with a gentle hand, she brushed John's cheek.

The touch seemed to rouse John from his stupor. John shook his head as the cold attacked his face. "Cortana…" He asked as he looked at her. "…what happened?"

"I need you to tell me what you remember." Cortana said. "Then, we can begin to figure this out together."

John instinctively reached for his helmet as if it was a security blanket. When Cortana stopped him, the man sighed. Then, he moved his hand away from the helmet as Cortana removed her own in a bid to make her SPARTAN more comfortable. "I heard you coming. Then, you passed me up. As I watched you move," The badass Master Chief felt his cheeks heat up, and he somehow knew it wasn't because of cold wind in his face. "I began to…see things."

Cortana raised a brow. "Oh?" She asked softly, but there was also a hint of something John couldn't recognize in her voice. "What did you see?"

"Thirteen, a few months before augmentation, I started noticing Linda-058." John sighed. "For a few nights every week I would dream about her."

Cortana nodded. "Go on."

"After augmentation, that all stopped, and my life became mission-to-mission."

Cortana nodded again. This time, she had a slight understanding smile on her face. "You find me attractive."

John growled and shook his head. "It's…not JUST that." John sighed. "I know the chemistry of the Human body. It was part of self-medic training." John took her armored upper arms in his hands. "This is more than that!"

John's hands shook with anger and frustration at his own inability to communicate beyond intel and receiving/giving orders. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. John wanted to tell her how comforting it was to have her always there in his head. The soldier wanted to tell her how much it terrified him to think of losing her to Rampancy when she was still an AI. They'd only known each other for a few months in Cortana's case and few days in his since Reach, but it felt like a lifetime to him- a lifetime in Hell with his own guardian angel always there.

"Damn it all!"

With frustration building, John gently as he could with his armor leaned forward and kissed her.

For Cortana, the universe stopped in that moment. Then, she kissed him back with a longing she had tried to bury for so long. All was right with the universe. There was no war. There was no separation by digital, impassable barriers. The universe consisted of her and her SPARTAN.

When they parted, both could hear clapping. Turning to meet the sound with weapons at the ready, Cortana and Chief looked at a few marines. Among them, Sergeant Avery Johnson nodded to the pair.

"Relax." He said with a look as the man continued to chew on his cigar. "It's about time you got your act together, Chief."

The only thing John could manage was: "Sir?"

"I thought you might be a little lacking in the 'Being Social with a Lady' Department, but I didn't know it was this bad." Johnson sighed. "I'm just thankful AI are faster in their feet than SPARTANs, or you would have stayed a slave to orders and the UNSC."

Then, Johnson nodded to Cortana. "Ma'am?" He gave her a straight face. "The Corps thanks you for service."

Cortana quirked an eyebrow at the sergeant. _Is he being serious or snarky?_

"Congratulations, Chief." Johnson told him with a nod as the two armored soldiers replaced their helmets. "By the way, me and the boys had a bet going. You just made me a rich man."

John sighed. He understood most things about military personnel, but how they could relax right now didn't make sense to him. His muscles were wound tight and ready for action at the drop of a hat.

Cortana screwed her face into a strange expression in thought. "We both need to relax."

With that in mind, Cortana quickly wrote a program for both their armor systems and sent the update to John's implant. "John, come with me." Cortana said in a tone that would remind many a soldier of how aggressive their wives could be while they were on shore leave.

 _She's acting like she really is curious about it._ Johnson smirked as Cortana led Chief into the structure and into an oddly clean room in the complex. _Then again, what does an AI do when she has nothing but curiosity about her organic companions_? Johnson barked a quick laugh. "You're one lucky SOB, Chief. Bed him well, m'lady."

As John looked around in confusion, Cortana gave the mental command the new patch enabled. The armor fell away from her bodysuit with a loud _clang!_

John turned on a dime to look at the source of the noise and stopped as he felt himself strain at the sight before him. "Cortana?!"

"Like the view, John?"

John swallowed as the part of him that was Human ordered his armor off. To his shock, the armor listened and fell away, leaving both clad in thier armors' under suits.

"Will you help me, John?" Cortana asked as she tried to get to the small zipper in the back.

Slowly, John walked over and pulled the undersuit off her. As her skin revealed more and more of itself, John came through as the Chief took a back seat. Once she was disrobed, Cortana helped Chief.

When he tensed at the sight of her body, Cortana laughed and gently pushed him onto the floor. "Enjoy yourself, John."

John did as did Cortana. The pair truly proved to be empathetic and passionate lovers. Cortana took the lead for most of it. John didn't mind because he didn't want to look like an idiot, and she made him feel amazing as she loved the tension away. This continued for hours, and John passively thanked them aliens who built this for the soundproofing quality of their work. He had no idea Cortana could scream like that. Oddly, it brought a smile to the soldier's face to hear her.

After somewhat aggressive lovemaking, John and Cortana sighed in contentment and curled up together on the floor.

Unfortunately, the bliss was short-lived because John and Cortana woke up to growling in thier comms. Cortana blinked at the realization the both woke up in their armors.

 _I guess the program works in reverse, too._

The voice on the comm was Ben. "Look alive!" He growled. "Regret's fleet will be here in about an hour!" Cortana could almost feel the authority in Ben's voice. "It's showtime, people!"

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **Author's Note:** If the sex seems a little too quick, think about it from John and Cortana's perspective. John is basically a sexually repressed teenager because the UNSC took that away from him. With Cortana as she is now, it's al coming back out, and Chief has NO IDEA how to handle the situation.

Cortana is still fairly new to the Human experience, and she wanted to be close to John. Everything she's read about Humans said that sex was as intimate as one could get physically with them.


	13. Twelve: End of Lies (Part One)

Chapter Twelve: End of Lies (Part One)

Ben and Gwen woke up to alarms blaring. For a moment, Gwen and Ben did not know where they were or what was going on around them. The iridescent purple bulkheads around them looked unfamiliar to to Ben and Gwen. The pair thought of battle stations, and with that command driving them, the pair quickly put their feet to the floor.

"What happened last night?" Gwen asked as she looked at Ben in confusion.

Ben groaned and shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Then, he looked at at Gwen with a serious expression. "Let's get to the bridge and worry about that later." Ben told her. "This ship is under attack."

Gwen only nodded and quickly followed her boyfriend.

As Ben and Gwen walked to the bridge, the fog of sleep lifted and memorizes gradually but quickly returned. It was at this point that Ben recognized the alarm for what it was: a call to prepare for battle. How Thel and the other Sangheili knew trouble would be here soon? Ben didn't know, but he did know one thing. He had to alert forces ringside.

"Look alive!" Ben growled over FLEETCOM and ground communication. "Regret's fleet will be here in about an hour! It's showtime, people!"

After a moment of silence in which only footfalls against alien metal could be heard, Gwen flashed Ben a frown as the pair ran for the bridge.

He gave her a look of confusion in return. "What?"

"I know what you're thinking, Doofus, and it's crazy." A small smile crept back in the her face as Gwen and Ben neared their destination. "Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy."

The bridge of the ship buzzed with information and activity when Gwen and Ben arrived. Monitors and holographic avatars of shipmasters littered the room.

For the sake of the other shipmasters present beside Thel who didn't have access to translation systems, Ben used his suit's translator to address the fleet. " _May I speak, Honored Thel 'Vadamee?_ "

Thel looked at the Great One in a moment of surprise at Ben requesting permission to speak to his own troops. Nonetheless, he nodded and gave a respectful bow before he moved away from the platform. "(The floor is yours, Benjamin.)"

Ben gave Thel a nod of thanks as he heard nothing from the avatars around him. Ben could see the looks of confusion at the strange name and the looks of wonder at Ben's armor. " _Let's get the rumors out of the way. Yes, I am Forerunner. My birth name is Truth-of-Falling-Star, but…_ " Ben held his breath and ordered his helmet to retreat. "… _I grew up on the Human homeworld as one of them._ "

Ben expected cries of outrage and blind wrath. However, the only sign among some that he had angered them was a slightly tighter jaw. Ben took this as blessings to continue. " _The Prophets, as they call themselves, pervert and distort my people's technology and culture for their own gain._ " Ben's eyes began to glow with green fire as his anger grew. " _They have perpetuated, to the detriment of countless lives, this foolishness of The Great Journey. In reality, what they hold as Sacred Rings and keys to this farce are actually weapons formally programmed to sterilize the galaxy of all life!_ " Ben shook his head. " _Think of your Keeps and your honor, fathers and brothers!_ "

Gwen shivered and couldn't help a smile at Ben's passion as he spoke. "You've got them, Ben."

" _These power-hungering maggots feast on the honor of your fallen and turn it into the vile refuse of genocide!_ " Ben looked over and motioned for Gwen to join him while he moved to make room for her on the platform. " _However, my Keep,_ " Ben smiled and pulled Gwen into a tight embrace and drew a giggle from the redhead in spite of the tense situation. "… _will fight to preserve our honor and the honor of anyone who fights with us._ " He looked around the room. " _Who will fight with us?!_ "

A resounding roar echoed through the chamber.

At the deafening sound, Ben saw a few Grunts scurry to hide from the frightening noise. _They behave like…children!_

The thought made ice freeze in Ben's stomach. Then, hot rage boiled up from deep inside the hero. He and Gwen shared a look. The Covenant was going to cease to exist after today. Ben and Gwen would make sure of it.

" _Back home, this…_ " He gestured to the Omnitrix. "… _was designed to stop genocide and foster peace between races, not subjugation or submission and surrender but true peace. No one will control anyone after today._ "

"(How do you intend to do that?)" A shipmaster by the name of Aka Rolcamee asked as he folded his arms and glared at Ben.

" _Regret has no mind for tactical use._ " Ben muttered. " _He is a politician._ " Ben sighed as he thought of a few back home. " _Politics is the realm of backstabbing with no honor, filled to the brim with cowardly worms who clutch pathetically to power._ " Ben looked at the Sangheili around him. " _Politicians aren't warriors._ " Ben smiled as he paced back and forth across the platform in thought. " _We capture the Prophet and force him to go back to High Charity with us to redeem the fools who have polluted my people's legacy!_ "

All eyes in the room grew wide. No one dared to speak for such a call was open blasphemy and sacrilege against The Holy Covenant. Then, here was a Great One in the skin of their supposed enemy telling them generations of dogma were not only wrong but nothing but a bid to hold sway and power over all Sangheili!

"(You're mad, Great One.)" Thel said softly. "(No one could capture Regret. He's too well guarded by the best of Sangheili's blood!)" Thel shivered. "(A legion of Demons could not get to him!)"

Ben nodded. " _A LEGION could not, but a two-person strike team could once the ship was crippled._ "

Thel considered Ben's plan. "(What of Regret's fleet?)"

Ben laughed. " _Fifty-eight battle-ready ships…_ " Ben looked at the shipmasters around him and asked a silent question. Regret was brash and easily goaded. He probably knew there was a revolt working its way through Thel's fleet. (Politicians tended to have their grubby little hands in everything especially when the politicians were paranoid, power-mad leaders.) However, Ben after some more thought realized Regret would have a smaller fleet to execute a surgical strike against the rebelling ships while leaving ships thought to be still loyal untouched. That would be his downfall. "… _versus a small battlegroup?_ "

Gwen gripped her boyfriend's arm in confusion after he went silent. "Are you alright?"

Ben nodded. Then, he turned back to the shipmasters. " _Regret will seek out ships loyal to him among us._ " Ben then shook his head. " _To do that, he will have forces board all the ships to ascertain the status of the individual crews. Even if they have sizable boarding parties, 'Numbers count for nothing' if warriors can push them back into the vacuum of space._ "

"(The only way for this plot to work will be if we attack together in a coordinated strike as one.)" One shipmaster suggested.

Ben nodded and replaced his image with a holographic display of his proposed plan. The dotted lines of twin flight paths of two banshees from the Ring approached Regret's ship on port and starboard sides. " _Once inside,_ " Ben paused. He almost said "Chief and Cortana" but then remembered the confusion Thel had at the names. " _Two Demons will find Regret._ " Ben grinned at the momentary look of fear at hearing of not just one Demon but two. " _Once they find him, the team will radio in. That; fathers, sons, and brothers; will be your signal to spring the trap._ "

"How will you get around the friend/foe tags, Ben?" Gwen asked as she looked at Ben in confusion.

After a moment, Ben snapped his fingers. "Covenant tech is a perverted version of Forerunner, so you shouldn't have that much trouble writing a program for Cortana and Chief to temporarily tag them as Covies."

"That means they'll have to rendezvous with us before they go to Regret's ship."

Ben nodded and kissed her in front of the other shipmasters. Thel only chuckled at his brothers' reactions having seen the Humans be affectionate before. Then, Ben smiled. " _I want you to go to the surface, Gwen, and relay my plan._ "

The shock and confusion instantly became apparent among the shipmasters. How could he trust a _female_ with such an important communication?

Gwen sighed and jumped into every communication relay in the fleet. "(I taught Ben how to fight.)" Gwen growled angrily. "(I can kick his ass when I'm infirm.)" To push her point home, Gwen made the communications of the fleet temporarily offline before she returned to her body. "(DO NOT forget that.)"

Ben raised a brow and looked at Gwen before he terminated the holographic projector. "What was that about?"

Gwen shook her head. "They don't respect me."

Ben walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you let these lizards get to you, it does no good except to stop you." Ben sighed. "You can't let the thoughts of those that don't know who you are affect you, Gwen."

Gwen smiled softly at him and nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Gwen promised. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For taking my advice back in New Mexico to heart."

Ben nodded with a grin as Gwen vanished in a cylinder of blue light.

When Gwen teleported to the surface of the ring, she didn't quite get the coordinates right and appeared a few feet above Chief's head before she fell to the dirt. John couldn't help an odd sense of déjà vu when Gwen hit the ground with a groan in front of him.

"Ben has a plan, Chief." Gwen said after she stood and dusted herself off. "Where's Cortana?" Gwen asked as she looked around for the super soldier in blue armor. "This plan involves her, too."

"She's…" John allowed a small chuckle. "…in the mess hall."

Gwen felt a smile crawl across her face. Then, the redhead raised a brow as she thought of something. "Shouldn't you be there to make sure she doesn't eat too much and make herself sick?"

John shook his head. "The Omnitrix gave her basic knowledge of how her body works: hunger, thirst, relieving oneself, and proper interpretation of the associated signals." John looked at her. "I could never thank Ben enough."

Gwen blinked. "What do you mean?"

"If you two didn't get stranded in space outside the Autumn, many things would be different." John shook his head as he remembered the nightmare he had the night before. _Blue Team was hunting something, something important._ (John couldn't remember what it was.) _Then, they came to an open and expansive room. Metal and gold things surrounded them. Something told him they were called Promethean Knights. Before John could process the odd flash of intuition, he felt his body lock up and strained to look around and see Blue team in similar lockdown._

 _Then, he heard her._

 _"This Cryptum will keep you safe until my work is done, John."_

 _"Cortana, you can't." He tried to reason with her. "Come back with us! Halsey can fix you."_

 _"Are they a threat to you, m'lady?" John tensed at the voice. Everything in him wanted to tear into the owner of that male voice as one of the creatures looked at Cortana with what John assumed was a questioning expression._

 _"No, Warden. He is the last person I need protection from."_

Gwen brought the warrior out of his thoughts. "Chief, are you alright?"

John shook his head. "It's just nightmares."

Gwen nodded. "Talk to Cortana about them, John." Gwen smiled. "Ask Ben about how many times I've helped him by letting him talk."

John nodded as he heard Cortana's gait behind him. "Orders, ma'am?"

Gwen nodded. "I need you both to come with me back to _Truth and Reconciliation_." Gwen said. "Ben has a plan not only to end Regret but to send the Covenant crumbling." Gwen looked at them. "It will require your friend/foe tags to be temporarily rewritten."

Cortana looked shocked while John only nodded. "Infiltration and asset capture if possible, asset denial if necessary."

Gwen nodded and shrugged. "Basically, Ben will give you a full briefing onboard." Gwen then gripped one hand in each of hers and teleported the three of them back to the ship vehicle bay.

"Ugh…" Cortana groaned when they appeared on the deck, a hand on the abdominal plates of armor above her stomach. "I don't think I should have eaten so much."

John sighed. "Cortana, please take off the helmet before you vomit."

Before the newest SPARTAN-II could disgorge her breakfast, Cortana shut her eyes and felt the strong nausea quickly leave. "I'm fine. Just warn a woman before you do that again, Gwen."

 **Please Read and Review.**

 **Author's Note:** I couldn't see any good place to stop, so I figured I would stop on a bit of humor before things got serious next chapter.


	14. Thirteen: End of Lies (Part Two)

Chapter Thirteen: End of Lies (Part Two)

Cortana laid down in the cockpit of the Banshee and braced herself as the craft lifted off. _My first true combat mission._ The former AI thought. _The future of the Human Race could be riding on my shoulders right now._ Cortana shooed the thoughts away with a shake of her head and glared at the capital ship in front of her. As Cortana did her best to "fly casual" as to not draw attention to her Banshee, the woman kept the craft cruising at half-throttle. In her flight to the ship, Cortana noted a swarm of ships leaving various landing bays from the ships in Regret's fleet. For a moment, Cortana cursed her new Human limits as she tried in vain to track the number of departing boarder craft. (She lost count at sixty-two "Ticks".) Then, Cortana felt herself smile.With an estimated two squads per vehicle, the entire boarding force would likely be only 124 Sangheili and about five times the Unggoy. _There was also the possibility of Brutes in this boarding action._ The thought made Cortana shiver. She knew of the beast's barbaric and nigh animalistic ways. If Brutes were part of the boarding force, loyal to Regret or not, the Sangheili would likely have to fight hard to vanquish the boarders once Regret was captured. "Plans rarely survive first contact," the woman muttered to herself as she approached a starboard hanger bay on the ship and sat down gently inside the bay that formerly held some of the boarding craft.

Cortana took a moment to sigh in relief before she looked around. _I'm glad the scout team just left._ Cortana thought. _Maybe John's luck is rubbing off on me._

Regret glared out of the viewport in the side of _Solemn Penance_ as his gravity throne quietly hummed to keep him aloft. He didn't like this. As the boarding action progressed, the Sangheili were actually being cordial with the Brute commanders and calmly swapping war stories. Regret shook his head. He didn't know what the Sanhgeili had planned for his arrival, but with word of a revolt among Thel 'Vadamee's fleet, the leader could not afford to be hasty.

Then, Regret considered why there was a revolt building in this fleet. Thel 'Vadamee served with the other Sangheili loyally with his entire species for generations. How could he just turn his back on The Great Journey so easily? Rumors whispered in his ears spoke of a Forerunner and his female companion. Regret shook his head and laughed. Such a notion was foolish. There were no Great Ones left in the galaxy. This pretender may have swayed this Fleetmaster, but he was just a pretender and would pay for his blasphemy!

Regret looked over at his Shipmaster. "Fire on the fleet."

The Sangheili's eyes stared at Regret in shock. "(…but Hierarch, my brothers…)"

"…are heretics!" Regret growled. "Now, fire!"

"(No.)" The Shipmaster said in a defiant tone. "(I respectfully request you wait, Great Hierarch.)" The Splitlip's eyes turned hard. "(Let us wait until the boarding action is complete and reports to you. It would be unwise to waste troops on our own rather than use them to vanquish the Humans.)"

Regret sighed like a child who had just been told he couldn't play with his favorite toy. "You are truly wise, Master 'Lukasamee."

Thel 'Vadam watched through the viewports on _Truth and Reconciliation_ as Regret's fleet came in through Slipspace. His twin hearts remained steady as the incoming fleet sent boarding craft into his fleet. _(So far, everything is going according to plan.)_ Thel heard a soft thud as two pods attached themselves to his ship. "(So it begins…)"

John landed a bit roughly in his predetermined entry point. It was easy to stay hidden in the chaos as boarding craft left the fleet. However, now came the difficult part: getting to Regret without being spotted or reported. Stealth would be the SPARTAN's best option. With that in mind, John stowed his weapons and began to creep his way to the bridge.

After the third hulking beast, John knew something was wrong. There were hardly any Sangheili thus far. It seemed Regret didn't much care for the noble warriors and preferred beasts. John would have laughed at the interesting irony had he not been preoccupied with his mission and staying silent as death itself.

John always hated stealth missions. The Master Chief preferred a more direct approach. Go in. Kill everything that moves. Leave. Those plans John always oddly enough enjoyed. He didn't enjoy the act of killing, but after having a higher up treat him and his brothers and sisters like monsters, it was therapeutic in a way to just let loose and burn off his anger while destroying Covie forces.

Thoughts of his "family" obliterated on Reach made John's fists tighten. _Do it for them._ The soothing sound of Cortana laughing softly echoed in John's mind. _Do it for her._

Cortana turned out to be very light on her feet. A fact the female SPARTAN was thankful for as she whispered through the halls like a breeze, never staying still for more than thirty seconds as she moved from the hanger bay towards the bridge in the center of the ship. _If I know John, this is driving him crazy._ However, for the former AI, this movement of silence towards an objective seemed vaguely familiar as she ran.

When she spotted a computer terminal about two minutes later, Cortana realized why this felt so familiar. The former AI unconsciously followed data hardlines back to the bridge! _Some things never change._ Cortana thought with a faint smile before she continued on her way.

After a few more moments of running, Sierra-117 spotted a spotted a SpecOps Sangheili who conversed calmly with another. For a brief moment, John considered stealing the Active Camouflage. Then, he thought better of it and continued on. _Thank you, Gwen for the software patch._ Chief praised. As long as he wasn't spotted, it was as if he were wearing the stealth tech. John still had to be careful, sure, but he could move more freely with this change.

John sighed in a moment of relief a few moments later when he saw the Sangheili Honor Guards. A small part of him shouted for joy like a child. _FINALLY, something I can hit!_ However, John suppressed this thought, quickly incapacitated the nearest guard, took his energy sword, and calmly walked into the bridge.

Once inside, John saw Cortana meet him on the other side and felt a smile crop up in his face.

Through somewhat rapid signing, the pair discussed how they should continue. John knew they didn't have much time since the downed guardsman could be discovered any second. Cortana suggested they announce themselves after they took down the lone Sangheili Shipmaster. With a nod from John, Cortana clubbed the Sangheili with his own plasma rifle and gently laid him on the deck to keep his sudden fall as quiet as possible. Finally, with a hiss as his appropriated weapon came to life, John put the edge of the sword's inside blade to the prophet's neck.

"We have secured Regret."

All hell broke loose after that.

Screams of rage and howls of agony clogged the local Covenant Battlenet such that Regret's cries for assistance couldn't be heard.

Confusion and chaos reined supreme. The Honor Guards rushes into the bridge to aid their master. Claws, fangs, swords, pain, and blood took the men from their task as the vile screeching beasts attacked the Sangheili warriors. Behind them, the protectors of the Prophets heard Regret laugh.

"Finally!"

A Brute charged in like a linebacker and with his hammer raised tried to tackle John off the Hierarch or slam him to paste but was met with a sword to the gut before either possibility could come about. John hefted the slain Brute Chieftain over his head. As red blood dripped down on the unmoving Master Chief, it gave him a truly demonic mystique. Then, with a mighty heave, he threw the fallen Brute into his Pack Brothers. After that, John picked up the Brute hammer and threw it to Cortana who caught it with one hand and used the momentum to swing into an ugly son of a bitch. The resulting gravity field threw the Brute into and through a nearby bulkhead.

In a moment of shock, Cortana stared at the weapon, took it in both hands, and slammed away a Brute who tried to get at John while he was distracted.

The dull sound of the field impact had John quickly look behind him with his weapon ready. "Thanks…" For a moment, he stared at Cortana with the huge ass hammer in her hands. _Damn, that's hot!_

Cortana nodded. _I think I like this weapon._

Betrayal by the beasts ran through each Honor Guardsman's mind. In a moment, all they knew had been broken, and Sangheili faced down Brutes in both fleets. Few against many, the Honor Guard deserted their posts and joined into the fray, a long-held lust for the animals' blood finally fulfilled as the Honor Guards cut down the beasts with no remorse.

Back on _Truth and Recitation_ , Ben paced in thought while the sounds of battle and war raged outside. He looked at Gwen who's power flowed dangerously. "I'm ready when you are.."

Ben nodded. _It's time to play my trump card and end this._

Ben and Gwen fought their way through Brutes and Covenant Loyalists and ran for the airlock. Once there, he nodded to Gwen who insulated herself with a field of Mana. Then, Ben depressurized the room and followed the pressure gradient. Once on top of Thel's ship, Ben transformed.

Everything in the midst of war froze and stared at the giant of a red and white creature in terror. Then, Ben crossed his arms and released a glancing shot of cosmic energy across the prow of _Solemn Penance_. Even a glancing strike drained the ship's shield and due to its EMP properties rendered the recharging systems temporarily offline.

"(Ben and I would like to speak to the one who calls himself 'Prophet of Regret'.)"

Ben as Waybig nodded in confirmation of his girlfriend's words and mimed as if only she could understand him.

"(Any ship that attacks will be destroyed, so please remove your finger from the firing button.)"

Unknown to Gwen, the San'Shyuum in question squeaked and quickly drew his shaking hand away from a glyph on the Shipmaster's control panel.

"(We will be boarding your ship now, sir.)" Gwen said politely as she and Ben flew toward the vessel.

Regret sat in terror. He was certain the mush under his rear hadn't been there before the female spoke and waited for the giant creature to come and destroy him. Needless to say, the Prophet was stunned when a Human shape in very advanced armor walked into the bridge and calmly stepped over the fallen as if the bodies did not faze him.

" _I am here to negotiate peace._ " The being said. " _You may call me Truth-of Falling-Star, Son of the Librarian of the Rate of Lifeworker._ "

Regret shivered. _The armor, the name…it's impossible!_ "(W-why are you here, Great One?)"

Ben disengaged his helmet as Regret gasped. " _Cease your attack on Humanity, MY PEOPLE, or I will be forced to detonate the Anodyne Spirit's engines and destroy High Charity._ "

The Human's cold stare told Regret he was not bluffing.

Playing the part of helpful Ancilla from inside Ben's armor, Gwen spoke. "Remote detonation access granted, Truth-of-Falling-Star.)""

Regret's eyes widened in terror. "(I-I will do as you ask, Great One.)"

" _Have you ever heard the Earthling story of Darth Pleigus the Wise?_ "

When Regret shook his head, Ben nodded. " _I thought not. It's an old legend, not one even your most ancient members would recall._ " Ben laughed as the Opera House Scene tan through his mind. " _He was so powerful. He could even convince Mana itself to create life. Do you know what he feared?_ "

Regret looked at Ben, "(Nothing.)"

Ben slowly shook his head. " _The only thing he feared was losing his power._ " Ben's glare turned hot. " _Like you…eventually he did lose lose his power. His pupil killed him in his sleep._ "

Regret tensed.

" _Here's the terms of your surrender. Your empire continues, but you leave Human space and never come back._ " Ben glared into his soul. "... _and tell your followers the truth about Forerunners._ "

Regret shivered and sat in his own waste as the Forerunner left the bridge. "(This is High Prophet of Regret. All ships are to return to High Charity for I have received from a Great One himself a revelation of the truth!)"

Ben nodded and walked back to the airlock to fly back to Thel's ship. "It is finished."

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 **Author's Note:** I plan to write an Epilogue where Ben and Gwen go home, but as far as the main story...you heard Ben.


	15. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** Here it is, the end of _Discovering Oneself_! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Epilogue-Mutation of the Psyche

After Ben set down in the airlock of the _Truth and Reconciliation_ and began to walk back into the ship proper, it finally hit him. _The galaxy will see peace for a time._

Ben felt different as he walked to the bridge of the ship. So much had happened over the course of a few weeks. Ben went from a quiet hero on Earth to a warrior, multi-species god, and finally to a diplomat who brought an end to genocidal decades of war. A part of him felt like puffing his chest out in pride, but that negligible part of his psyche shivered and withered at the thought of the men and women who died to drive the enemy back and preserve Humanity.

The event that hit the hardest for Ben was Reach. Gwen briefed Ben on the Glassing of Reach when they returned to the _Truth_ the first time _._ Ben had overheard Chief and Cortana discussing it back at the Control Room while they waited during Gwen's conversation with Mendicant Bias, and it seemed to shake John to the core that he remained in cryosleep on the _Autumn_ while his home and most of his family perished.

 _He lost most of his SPARTAN brothers and sisters on Reach._ The thought made Ben's heart clench as images of Aunt Natalie, Uncle Frank, and his adoptive parents burned away in intense heat flashed through the young Forerunner's mind. Ben silently screamed and reached for them to no avail.

As the guilt threatened to swallow him, Ben saw a flash out of the corner of his eye before Gwen materialized out of his suit. The pair shared a look of pain before she walked up to him and put her arm around him.

"It's ok, Ben." Gwen said softly. "I'm here."

Ben nodded and spoke hoarsely, his voice thick with emotions. "Everyone else we know isn't." Ben looked at her as the helmet of his armor peeled away to reveal tears that threatened to fall. "Mom, Dad, Natalie, Frank…Grandpa Max…" Ben trailed off and breathed in shakily. "They're all dead!" Ben could no longer keep the tears in and began to sob. "I want to go home, Gwen, but we can't!"

 _Peace, my son._ Ben looked up at the familiar voice of the Librarian. _There is a crystal on the planet Humanush call Reach._

Ben's eyes widened. "Reach? The planet is glass!"

The Librarian's consciousness seemed to wrap around Ben in a mental hug. _Truth-of-Falling-Star, there is so much you don't know. The artifact found by the Humanush protected the base and the immediate area with a Slipspace bubble. A few of the Humanush in Level II Combat Skins survive even now in this bubble. There lies your way home, child._

Ben nodded slowly as he felt the comforting presence leave his mind. " _Thel, set a course for Reach._ " Ben shook his head after a moment. " _Belay that. Pick a Shipmaster you trust, 'Vadam. Gwen and I need to go back to Reach._ "

After a moment, Thel answered. "(As you have said, Benjamin, I will do.)"

Cortana and Chief walked up soon after the conversation with Thel. Both had their helmets off and tucked under an arm: Cortana's in her left while John's was in his right.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get back to Reach?" Cortana asked while John gave an almost invisible flinch.

"Mom, The Librarian, says there's an artifact on Reach that can get Gwen an me back to our home Universe." Ben put a hand on John's arm. "The way she talked, a few SPARTANs and Halsey were protected from the glassing by the artifact's odd properties."

Gwen nodded. "It may do you both some good to come along."

Cortana gave John a comforting look and a soft smile. A moment of pain flashed through John's face. Then, he nodded. "If there is any chance my family is alive, I would be an idiot not to at least check it out."

The trip to Reach abroad the _Shadow of Intent_ proved to be shorter than anyone expected. As Rtas 'Vadum, informally known as "Half Jaw" due to an injury that took the left side of his mandibles, stood in the bridge while his ship hovered over a tiny green area on the surface, he began to pace. "(Are you certain you don't need an escort, Great One?)"

Ben nodded. " _They think the war is still raging. Sending your brothers would waste blood._ "

With that, Ben and Gwen along with Chief and Cortana took three Banshees down to SWORD Base and landed half a klick south. The glassy desert around them seemed to abruptly stop about three quarters of the way in. Green and wildlife replaced barren glass. As the immediate area shifted, everyone went on alert. Gwen jumped out of Ben's suit because four was better than three, and the "fire team" gradually made it into the base. Signs of recent living stood around them. Weapons were piled near the door in an impromptu armory and beyond that, there were voices coming from deeper within the base.

At a thought, Cortana whistled a familiar seven-note tune among SPARTAN-IIs: "Ole Ole Oxen Free".

The female voice stopped, "Did you hear that?"

John's heart skipped a beat. The man looked at Cortana to make sure she wasn't speaking.

Cortana said one simple word in response: "Mom."

A stranger's male voice in an odd accent answered the other woman. "I'll go check it out." His voice grew stony. "Stay here!"

John heard the familiar sound of a SRS99 Sniper Rifle's action slide into place and tensed. "Damn," he muttered. This could get messy."

Ben and Gwen looked at each other. With a nod, Gwen grabbed the stranger with a tether of Mana and pulled him to her as his weapon clattered to the stone floor. Even as the man struggled in his binds, Ben noticed three arrows near the crown of the man's shaved head.

"Who are you?" The man growled. "If you're here for Halsey, I'll kill her before you can get to her!"

Cortana and John looked at each other for a split second. Then, they both pinned the man against the wall with enough force to make the entire base tremble.

"Touch my Mom, and you won't live to see tomorrow!" Cortana's voice spat as the man's eyes widened. He then looked back between the distant room and the woman before him in confusion.

"Doctor Halsey?!" Jun said. "How…?"

"First, who are you, and why are you guarding the doctor?" John said with anger in his voice.

"Jun-A226, SPARTAN NOBLE Team…"

John glared harder at Jun. "…and an insult to the doctor, then."

Cortana looked at Jun. "Your mission was asset protection or denial if it came to that."

Jun looked at her. "What are you doing?"

"The war is over." Cortana said. "We are here to secure assets and return to Earth for debriefing."

Catherine Halsey knew those voices, and after they thrashed Ackerson's lackey, she decided to meet John and Cortana herself.

"Hello, John."

John dropped the knockoff the moment he heard her familiar voice. "Dr. Halsey, ma'am…"

Then, the good doctor saw Cortana as she removed her helmet and gasped at the sight before her eyes. "Cortana, how are you…WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

Cortana nodded to Ben and Gwen as Ben disengaged his helmet and walked up.

"If you've got time, ma'am…" Ben nodded to Gwen.

Gwen smiled at Jun and hit him with a memory wiping spell. "Sleep tight, psychopath!"

Ben laughed, shook his head, and turned back to Halsey. "…it's time for you to be debriefed in full."

"That was quite a story, Benjamin." Halsey said after she heard everything. "Your Mother sent you here because the artifact I discovered is the key to going back to your own universe?"

Ben nodded. "That's the short version."

Halsey nodded. "Let me go…" The older woman trailed off as the crystal in question floated over to Ben. "…get it."

Cortana and John looked at the pair as the crystal began to glow and undulate a centimeter or two above Ben's armored hand.

"It was an honor to serve with you." John said as he gave Ben a salute.

"Likewise…" Ben said with a nod as he returned it.

Cortana smiled at the pair. "Thank you for giving me the chance to have a life with my SPARTAN."

Gwen nodded. "Happy we could help."

Ben looked at Gwen as he felt the energy in the crystal building. "Lookalike we're running out of time."

Cortana smiled and laid her head in John's chest as she waved at the pair. "Bye!"

A bright and disorienting flash later; Ben and Gwen found themselves surrounded by men in Plumber uniforms. The men were trying to keep civilians back as Ben and Gwen looked up to see Grandpa Max in the first line of officers. The old man turned and stared in shock at what he saw.

"Ben, what are you wearing?" Max shook his head at the thought and ran to hug the returning travelers. "I'm just so glad you're back!"

Ben hesitated as he opened his mouth to ask the burning question, but Gwen beat him to it.

"Grandpa, how long have we been gone?"

Max looked at his grandkids with tears in his eyes. "After that episode with Kevin, I've been trying for about six months to get you back." He paused to wipe his eyes. "Your parents are worried sick!"

Ben felt a pang of guilt, but it soon passed when Gwen kissed him gently. "We're back home, Doofus." Gwen smiled at him. "There will be no moping today."

Ben opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by two voices in sync: "TENNYSON?!"

Cash and JT pushed through the crowd to stare at their former target in fear and panic. "What happened to you?!"

Ben glared at them with the hard eyes of a soldier who had seen too much. "Don't push me, you two."

Gwen gently put an arm around Ben. "Don't worry about them." Gwen said as she casually jumped in Ben's suit and continued to speak. "We need to let Natalie, Frank, Sandra, and Carl know we're ok."

Ben only nodded and took off for his adoptive parents' house. "Explaining all this will be interesting, but I'm glad to be home, Dweeb."

Gwen felt her code move to mimic a smile from inside the suit. "You will always have me to help with this, Truth-of-Falling-Star." Gwen then brushed Ben's mind comfortingly. "Not even time or space can change that. I will always love you."

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